Manulife Acquires Optique Capital Management
Eight members of the former Optique Capital team will be joining Manulife Asset Management to form a new equity team, based in Milwaukee. The team will be led by Wendell L. Perkins, Senior Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, and Margaret (Peggy) A. McKay and Edward T. Marraccini, both Managing Directors and Portfolio Managers. The team will report to Christopher P. Conkey, Chief Investment Officer, Global Equities, Manulife Asset Management.
Perkins has been responsible for equity research, strategy and implementation at Optique Capital and is a founding member of the management team which established Optique through the buyout of Johnson Asset Management from Johnson Financial Group in December 2007. He originally joined Johnson Asset Management in 1994, and previously worked as an analyst in the Private Placement Division of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board and as a credit analyst for Westinghouse Credit in Chicago. A graduate of Colby College, Perkins holds has an MBA from the University of Wisconsin.
McKay has been jointly responsible for overall portfolio management and equity research at Optique Capital. She is also a founding member of the management team that led the buyout of Johnson Asset Management. Previously, she served as Assistant Portfolio Manager at Daiwa International Capital Management and as Financial Analyst with the Royal Bank Financial Group in Toronto. McKay holds a degree in economics from McGill University and a Master of Economics from the University of British Columbia.
Marraccini has been jointly responsible for overall portfolio management as well as equity research at Optique Capital and is also a founding member of the management team which led the buyout of Johnson Asset Management. Marraccini joined the firm as a fundamental equity analyst. He previously served as a fundamental equity analyst at Robert W. Baird & Company. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Wisconsin – LaCrosse.
The acquisition closed on Friday, February 11; terms were not disclosed. As of December 31, 2010, Optique’s mutual fund and separate account assets under management were approximately $800 million.