Veteran fund manager Frank Mersch has joined former colleagues from Front Street Capital 2004 at alternative investment management firm Jemekk Capital Management Inc. of Toronto.
Mersch will be portfolio manager and senior member of the team at Jemekk, and is expected to play an integral role in building assets at the young firm.
Mersch originally gained prominence in the Canadian investment industry while managing funds for the former Altamira Investment Services Inc. of Toronto from 1987 to 1998. Altamira was bought by National Bank of Canada in 2002.
Mersch later co-founded Front Street Capital, where he managed funds and held multiple roles including chairman, partner and chief executive officer.
Last September, Front Street Capital announced its impending merger with Toronto-based Aston Hill Financial Inc. With the transaction completed in December, the combined new entity has since been renamed LOGiQ Asset Management Inc. Another industry veteran, Joe Canavan, is leading the new company as chief executive officer.
In October 2016, shortly after the Front Street/Aston Hill merger announcement, Front Street Capital sold Jemekk Capital to a newly created corporation controlled by Jemekk president Gerard Ferguson called J2 Capital Management Inc. In connection with the transaction, Ferguson left Front Street Capital.
At the same time, J2 Capital took over from Front Street the investment management and portfolio advisory agreements related to the Jemekk Total Return Fund LP and the Jemekk Long/Short Fund LP.
“I am excited to be joining the Jemekk team,” says Mersch in a news release. “My goal going forward is to simplify and decrease the noise around the investment process, and to focus primarily on money management.”
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