Sprott Inc. SII today announced it has agreed to hire Whitney George, a veteran U.S. small-and mid-cap equity manager. In addition, Sprott is in the process of acquiring management contracts for an estimated $US285 million in two U.S.-domiciled Royce funds that George will continue to manage.
Sprott has executed a letter of intent with New York-based Royce & Associates, LLC to support the transfer of the management contracts. The transfers are subject to investor and regulatory approval.
The assets that Sprott intends to assume are held mostly in Royce Focus Trust RFT. Investing mostly in small- and mid-cap U.S. stocks, the closed-end fund currently has net assets of about US$200 million. The transfer to Sprott is also subject to the approval of the fund's board of directors, which is scheduled to meet in December.
George, who will become a senior portfolio manager at Sprott, is a long-time senior member of the investment team at Royce & Associates. Currently a managing director and portfolio manager, he served as Royce's chief investment officer from 2009 to 2013.
As a Sprott manager, George will continue to be based in New York. In a release, Sprott said George will be a key contributor to the expansion of Sprott's business in the U.S.
"Whitney is joining Sprott because he believes we have the potential to continue expanding our business both in the U.S. and internationally," said Sprott CEO Peter Grosskopf. "He is bringing two existing funds to our platform, which we expect to be immediately cash-flow positive to Sprott."