Hedge Fund Buys Meridian Funds

One year after the “untimely” death of Richard Aster, founder of Larkspur, Ca.-based Aster Capital Investment Management, the investment advisor is selling off its assets.

Specifically, the Meridian Equity Income Fund (MEIFX), Meridian Growth Fund (MERDX) and the Meridian Value Fund (MVACX) are being sold to Arrowpoint AIM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Denver-based hedge fund Arrowpoint Asset Management. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2013. All three funds have a combine value of some $2.84 billion in assets under management as of May 31, according to public records.

Robert Ficarro, a fund administrator at Aster, told Money Management Executive that the funds have resided in a trust since the passing of Aster and “needs a home”. “The trust is not in the business of running mutual funds and didn’t want to be in the mutual fund business,” he said.

Christopher Dunne, a managing director at Arrowpoint, was not immediately available to comment on the deal. Arrowpoint currently houses a number of former Janus Capital Group executives.