€100m mark exceeded as new Merill Strategic Balanced Fund is launched

Merill Sicav plc has reached €100m in assets under management as a new sub-fund, the Merill Strategic Balanced Fund (USD), with seed money of $10m was launched.

The investment manager of Merill funds, Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Ltd has achieved another milestone in the history of the company. This target was set by Mizzi in April 2018, who stated that it was the company’s aim to hit this figure within the next 18 months.

On 4 October Merill Sicav plc launched a new sub-fund, Merill Strategic Balanced Fund USD Accumulator Share Class. This newly launched USD-denominated sub-fund aims to invest predominantly in US assets, however, is not restricted to being exposed to this geographical region.

The objective of the sub-fund is to achieve long-term growth from a diversified portfolio of investments. The majority of the sub-fund’s investment will be dollar denominated, but the investment manager is permitted to enter into other currencies if opportunities arise. That being said the investment manager will be able to make use of derivatives in order to reduce the sub-fund’s credit, currency or even interest rate risks.

Merill Sicav plc launched its first sub-fund in 2016, the Merill Total Return Income Fund with an initial seed capital of €15m. Two additional sub-funds were later launched in 2017, the Merill Global Equity Income Fund and the Merill High Income Fund, as well as a Sterling Hedged Share Class of the latter sub-fund which was launched in March of this year. Merill funds witnessed steady growth throughout the years and the full range of four sub-funds now boasts total assets under management exceeding €100m.

Jesmond Mizzi, managing director of Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors said: “We are really pleased to have achieved this milestone in just over three years. As we continue to actively manage Merill Sicav plc to see it grow and flourish, we constantly seek to explore new avenues of diversification which is key for us. We are once again extending our product range to enable both our existing and prospective clients to diversify their investment portfolios on an international level.”

Earlier this year Merill Total Return Income Fund achieved a four-star rating from Morningstar Inc. This sub-fund continued to perform strongly and ranked first quartile in 2017, 2018 and year-to-date, as at the end of September. This rating helps investors assess this fund’s track record compared to other similar funds.

Referring to this positive four-star rating from Morningstar Inc., Mizzi added: “We believe in doing what is right to safeguard the interest of our investors. Trust is what drives our business and our growth over the years is evidence of the faith that investors have placed in our company.”