2 Comments 2 Commentsby Susan Edmunds
The Australian research house and fund manager has appointed Trent Hancock of Moore Stephens Sydney Corporate Recovery Group as its administrator.
The company was thrown into disarray when four of its Blueprint funds were terminated after being invested in an illiquid asset.
The $31 million investment was believed to be in a real estate development linked to people involved with its manager, Artefact Partners.
New Zealand investors have money with van Eyk largely through its now-terminated International Share Fund.
The FMA said it was liaising with ASIC and assessing the implications for NZ-based entities.
"As reported, the voluntary administration is said not to impact Blueprint unit holders but we are verifying that. Our inquiries into Blueprint funds in NZ are continuing."
Chief executive Mark Thomas was in New Zealand at the end of August to meet the FMA. He said at the time that New Zealand investors could be expected to recoup 80% of their investment in that fund within weeks.
The Blueprint NZ series had about $150 million under management in 2013.
In a statement, van Eyk said it had chosen to enter voluntary administration after the sudden closure of the managed funds. The Blueprint funds provided more than half van Eyk’s revenue. A year ago, they were worth more than A$1 billion.
"This has presented short term financial challenges as it is currently structured to the parent company, van Eyk Research Pty Ltd and the Company determined that the prudent course of action was to enter voluntary administration.”
It said the process would allow the administrator to preserve van Eyk’s investment research, asset consulting and financial advisory businesses and independently evaluate capital restructuring options.
“The voluntary administration does not involve the unitholders in the van Eyk Blueprint Series of managed funds. These funds remain under the purview of their Responsible Entity, Macquarie Investment Management," it said.
Thomas said it was a regrettable but necessary move.
“We remain absolutely committed to providing our client's with a seamless quality research and consulting service and it will remain business as usual for van Eyk in delivering on this commitment while the VA process is under way."
In July, Thomas told Good Returns he wanted to grow van Eyk’s adviser force five-fold over the coming years, from a team of 10. “We’re actively talking to advisers about joining our advice business, engaging us as a consultant or buying research from us.”
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Whilst van Eyk had a modest presence in NZ the ramifications of their demise will unfortunately be felt throughout the industry