Maven reaches five-year milestone as independent fund manager

Maven has just celebrated its fifth anniversary as an independent business since leading its own management buy-out of the private equity division of Aberdeen Asset Management in 2009.

Managing Partner Bill Nixon and his five fellow partners have overseen a very successful period of organic growth and acquisition activity, as Maven has established itself as one of the UK's leading small-to-mid market investment managers, with a widely recognised brand. From its Glasgow headquarters, and offices in five other UK cities, Maven's 20 regionally based investment executives focus on providing finance and ongoing strategic support to private companies across a wide range of industry sectors.

In its five years the Maven team has built a specialist investment management business, having more than doubled funds under management to £330m, offering flexible growth capital and mezzanine funding to SMEs across the UK, and a range of high quality investment opportunities for investors.

Maven now manages six later-stage VCTs, which are highly regarded for their track record in paying attractive dividends. Since 2009 Maven has completed six successful VCT fundraisings, a fund merger, and was appointed to replace the incumbent manager of a VCT in 2011.

Maven’s broader expertise in the transactional marketplace, through a team with a wide range of commercial, financial and industry experience, has also seen it appointed to manage a number of Government and Local authority backed funds providing SME finance, including the Scottish Loan Fund (SLF), Capital for Enterprise Fund A and the Greater Manchester Loan Fund. The SLF was launched in March 2011 to support the growth of SMEs across Scotland and, under Maven’s management, has become recognised as a prime source of growth capital for SMEs.

As the business has continued to grow it has doubled its staff to over 40 dedicated private equity and commercial property specialists, and moved to a modern administrative and investment hub in central Glasgow. Maven has also opened an office in Edinburgh in support of increasing investment activity in the North, and new offices in both Aberdeen and Manchester.

In the past five years the Maven team has completed 84 private equity and mezzanine transactions in SMEs across the UK, committing over £175m on behalf of client funds.

Bill Nixon, Managing Partner of Maven Capital Partners UK LLP, said: "We're immensely proud of our achievements over the past five years, in which we’ve established Maven as one of the UK’s leading independent fund managers and been appointed to a number of significant new fund mandates. The opportunity to set up our own business in 2009 was a natural evolution for the team, allowing us to diversify our investment offering into new areas of alternative investment and add several high-calibre investment professionals to the Maven team.”