Incapital has announced that it has acquired Blue Sky Asset Management. The trans-Atlantic deal combines two independent providers of structured investments and fixed income securities for institutional and professionally advised investors.

In the US, Incapital LLC is a provider of structured investments and fixed income securities designed for individual investors, underwriting and distributing through broker-dealers, banks and institutional accounts. Since 2000, over $200 billion of new issue and US Agency securities have been issued through retail note programmes.

Blue Sky Asset Management is an independent provider in the UK and Europe, with a reputation amongst high end wealth managers and professional advisers for its research based, client-centric, ‘intelligent’ structured investment approach.

Blue Sky’s business will merge into Incapital’s UK-based affiliate, Incapital Europe Limited. This team will be led by Chris Taylor, James Chu and Mark Dickson – all of whom will assume Managing Director roles within Incapital Europe.

‘‘The combination of Incapital and Blue Sky creates a leading global independent platform for fixed income and structured investments. Incapital Europe’s clients will immediately benefit from the significant scale and capabilities of the combined business units,” said Incapital LLC president John Radtke. “Incapital Europe will announce initiatives in the UK, Channel Islands and Continental Europe, bringing an expanded list of major banking counterparties, educational resources for professional advisers and building on the exceptional reputation that both firms have for client-centric innovation."

Chris Taylor, taking on the role of Managing Director at Incapital Europe, said: “UK wealth managers and professional advisers understand the benefits of dealing with independent structured investment providers – not least the advantages and value of open architecture counterparty platforms. However, it’s a simple fact that the independent firms active in the UK have lacked the capability and capital to operate at the highest level – or to satisfy the increasingly deep due diligence processes and requirements of advisers and investors. This trans-Atlantic deal creates an independent provider capable of competing at the highest level. Incapital Europe will immediately occupy a market leadership position, leveraging significant counterparty and trading advantage, with genuine scale, depth of resource and capability.”