LONDON (Alliance News) - Frenkel Topping Group PLC on Thursday said Jason Granite, the specialist independent financial advisor and asset manager's chief investment officer, will become its executive chairman with immediate effect.
Granite's remit will include the deployment of Frenkel's cash into investments, both short term and long term, with a view to generating additional returns to shareholders, the company said in a statement. Those investments may include acquisitions or treasury-related investment activity including fixed income, equities and investment properties.
In May, Frenkel said it had GBP4.9m of cash on the balance sheet as of April 30, and that the company is "extremely well placed" to add more to the assets it manages over the coming years. David Southworth, the outgoing chairman, said at the annual meeting that the company had GBP674 million of assets under management, versus GBP666 million at the end of 2015.
The appointment of Granite comes after Southworth told the company's annual meeting of shareholders in May of his plan to retire from the board.
At the time, Southworth said he would act as chairman until Frenkel found and appointed a "suitable" replacement.
Frenkel confirmed on Thursday that Southworth has now stepped down, and said also that Greg McMahon has resigned as a non-executive director with immediate effect to "focus on his other work commitments".
Granite joined Frenkel with the company's GBP4.4 million acquisition in August 2015 of F C Fund Managers Ltd, which was renamed Frenkel Topping Investment Management, providing the company with the ability to built an in-house investment management business. F C Fund Managers was bought from FCFM Group Ltd, in which Granite is a major shareholder.
Frenkel has been re-papering clients and migrating funds as Frenkel Topping Investment Management becomes the discretionary investment manager of its assets under management, meaning investment management is no longer entirely in the hands of third parties.
Chief Executive Officer Richard Fraser said Frenkel looks forward to "announcing new board members who will assist the company in the next phase of its growth strategy as we continue to migrate funds and benefit from the FCA permissions received in March".
"We are excited by the scope to build on recent momentum as we work towards accelerated growth in profitability from 2017," Fraser said.
Frenkel said it has identified and approached a number of potential non-executive directors, and expects to appoint at least one by June 30.
Earlier this week, Michael Spencer, the founder and chief executive of FTSE 250 wholesale financial services company ICAP PLC, was revealed as a significant shareholder in Frenkel. A stock exchange document dated Tuesday this week showed that Spencer has a 6.85% interest in Frenkel through his private investment vehicle, IPGL (Holdings) Ltd, which he controls.
Spencer previously held 227,272 shares in Frenkel, which is below the threshold at which a holding must be disclosed to the market. He joined Granite, who had a 15.83% interest in Frenkel as of May 5, as a major shareholder in the company.
Shares in Frenkel were up 1.6% at 46.75 pence on Thursday morning in London.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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Frenkel Topping (FEN)