Establishment of Macquarie Funds Group

Macquarie Group Limited (ASX:MQG) today announced Funds Management Group (FMG), Equity Markets Group (EMG) and Macquarie Capital Products (MCP) will combine their funds and funds-based structured product businesses into a new operating group to be named Macquarie Funds Group (MFG).

The formation of MFG will provide clients with a single, integrated funds-product suite covering the full spectrum of funds management and funds-based structured products. The new group will also combine and re-organise a number of distribution teams globally, giving the majority of funds clients a single point of access to many of Macquarie’s investment offerings.

Shemara Wikramanayake, who has held a range of leadership roles during her 20 years at Macquarie, has been appointed Group Head of MFG. Previously, Ms Wikramanayake was based in New York,where she was Head of Macquarie Capital Funds Division in North America. In this role, she was involved in building and managing Macquarie’s infrastructure and private-equity funds business in the US and Canada.

Ms Wikramanayake said: "Combining Macquarie’s three funds-management businesses establishes a global platform for the group to benefit from evolving markets, increase investment innovation and create more investment opportunities and enhanced services to clients."

The combined group will operate as a team of approximately 690 staff with combined funds under management of $A70 billion and $A7 billion in funds–based structured products. MFG will not include Macquarie’s specialist infrastructure and real estate funds operations.

Ms Wikramanayake said there would be no change to the investment teams’ operations. The new group’s combined operational platform will provide greater organisational infrastructure while allowing investment teams to continue to operate as a boutique structure within an institutional framework. The group will have offshore bases in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia as well as substantial businesses in Australia.

The new Funds Group has effect from 1 August and will form part of the Banking Group (Macquarie Bank Limited).