Man Group is buying Aalto Invest and creating a real assets platform.
Aalto, which has around $1.7bn (€1.5bn) in assets under management (AUM), will form the real assets platform of a new division, Man Global Private Markets (GPM).
The Man Group, which had $807bn in AUM as of September, said it was looking to give clients access to strongly performing, differentiated real assets strategies.
Aalto was founded in 2010 by chief executive Mikko Syrjänen and CIO Petteri Barmanm, who will become co-heads of real assets.
The London-based company specialises in real estate equity and debt strategies, including direct investments in single-family homes in the US and lending to commercial and residential real estate in Europe and the US.
Syrjänen said: “We are now at the point in our evolution where the additional infrastructure and diverse investment expertise available at Man Group, as part of Man GPM, enhances our business and enables us to create significant value for existing and future clients.
“We are delighted to be working with an organisation that will enable us to preserve our entrepreneurial culture.”
Luke Ellis, chief executive at Man Group, said the new Man GPM division would offer investors exposure to “longer-duration capital products”.
Man GPM will develop strategies across real estate, credit and infrastructure.
The takeover, via a share deal, is expected to complete in January next year.
