StormHarbour Partners, the independent global markets and financial advisory firm, has announced that it has accelerated the build-out of its Alternative Asset Management business by agreeing to acquire London-based Fortrinn Partners, a Financial Services Authority regulated investment manager that specialises in volatility trading strategies. The acquisition, through which Fortrinn Partners will be renamed StormHarbour Alternative Investments, is subject to FSA approval.

Fortrinn Partners was founded by CEO and former principal of MKM Longboat Keith DeCarlucci, and Antonis Giannopoulos, who have been working together for over eight years. Fortrinn Partners currently manages the Fortrinn Convexity Fund Ltd. The Fund’s trading strategy is designed to benefit from markets risk re-pricing.

Under the terms of the acquisition, DeCarlucci will continue to manage the Convexity Fund, while joining the Executive Committee of SHAI, led by Thierry Sciard, a Managing Principal of StormHarbour and SHAI CEO, and Nicolas Andine, a Principal of StormHarbour and SHAI CIO.

Thierry Sciard commented: “This acquisition represents a tremendous opportunity for SHAI to accelerate its development. Keith and his team have built over the years a highly efficient, reliable and scalable infrastructure. Thanks to the StormHarbour’s group strengths, we intend to leverage it to create a truly world class alternative asset management platform capable of supporting a collection of dedicated Funds offering investors the highest of standards and best-in-class investment solutions.”

Nicolas Andine added: “Keith’s track-record in managing volatility strategies is second-to-none. The Convexity strategy offers a highly attractive, differentiated and uncorrelated risk/return profile consistent with what we want SHAI to stand for. Supported by a strengthened business, we are confident it will prove very attractive to investors.”

DeCarlucci commented further: “There are many opportunities in the market for volatility trading strategies and we firmly believe that our ability to capitalise on these opportunities will be enhanced by StormHarbour’s support and resources. Antonis and I will continue to manage the Convexity Fund as we always have – independently and with a disciplined approach to investing that has enabled us to generate excellent returns for investors. Furthermore, I look forward working with Thierry and Nicolas to achieve our objective of making SHAI a world class alternative asset management platform across multiple strategies and asset classes.”