ML Capital has taken over the hosting of the Wanger European Smaller Companies fund and the Wanger US Smaller Companies fund following the merger of the Wanger Investment Company into the MontLake structure.

These funds will continue to be managed by Chicago-based Columbia Wanger Asset Management, which was founded in 1992 and has USD33.2 billion USD under management as of the 31 March, 2012. Columbia Wanger has been managing these UCITS funds for the last 10 years.

This is a major step in the evolution of the MontLake Platform with the addition of two long only funds, managed by a talented fund management firm, with a long and solid track record. The mix between alternative funds and more traditional products is a reflection of the demand from the ML Capital client base for quality UCITS products.

Columbia Wanger selected ML Capital as its hosting and distribution partner after a thorough due diligence process, whereby a strong institutional infrastructure and local distribution expertise to promote funds outside of the USA were of primary importance.

The Wanger European and US Smaller Company Funds commenced trading on the ML Capital Montlake Platform on the 23rd March, 2012. The Irish-domiciled MontLake UCITS Platform has grown rapidly since launch 18 months ago, with AUM currently of excess USD200 million USD.

John Lowry (pictured), Chairman of ML Capital, says: “Partnering with Columbia Wanger is a natural complement for the MontLake UCITS Platform, as demand amongst our investor client base indicated the requirement for a long-only fund manager with a solid track record, specializsng in small- and mid-cap equity. At ML we specialize in bringing quality alternative and traditional long-only fund managers to the market place within a strictly regulated and transparent UCITS structure. We look forward to working closely with the Columbia Wanger team over the coming years and recognise their superb track record and quality brand name within the fund management industry worldwide.”

Chuck McQuaid, President and CIO of Columbia Wanger Asset Management, says: “We are pleased to have ML Capital as our hosting and distribution partner for our award-winning offshore funds, Wanger European Smaller Companies fund and Wanger US Smaller Companies fund.”