US Fund Manager Attracts an Impressive Board in Advance of UK Launch

27 January, 2015 | By Dice McCairn

Gabelli Value Plus+ Investment Trust is seeking to raise up to £250 million to bring their successful ‘Private Equity’ approach to stock market investing to UK Investors.

Andrew Bell the Chief Executive of Witan Investment Trust will Chair the new trust, which has also attracted the former Chair of Aberdeen Asset Management Charles Irby, and Alex Hammond-Chambers who Chaired Ivory & Sime, the esteemed Scottish Asset Manager now part of F&C, who currently Chair’s Hampden & Co, and the soon to launch private bank.

The Gabelli trust is being launched by New York fund manager Gamco Investors, founded in 1977 by Mario Gabelli, and will seek to raise between £100m and £250m, to be managed by Gabelli Funds, to invest in US equities. The firm has pledged to invest 10 per cent of the total capital raised in the issue itself.

Gamco manages around $50 billion of assets and has had an office in London 15 years ago.

Gamco takes a different approach to most fund managers favouring a value focused approach, that borrows heavily from the private equity model whereby they actively engage the with management of investee companies to bring about change.

A prospectus is expected to be issued shortly with the offer closing towards the end of February. More details and analysis will follow.