Ascalon Capital Managers has taken the helm of Direct Portfolio Group following the departure of its chairman and chief, John Aldersley.
Ascalon chief executive Nick Basile confirmed to InvestorDaily that Aldersley was no longer part of the separately managed account group's executive team.
"He's not the chairman, but he's a director and he's no longer the chief executive. I'm the acting chief executive. I'm looking for a replacement at the moment," Basile said.
"He's still a shareholder in the group, he's not there day-to-day. He's not an executive like he was before but he's there for us to get advice from as required and he's on our board."
Aldersley sold 40 per cent of his 60 per cent interest in the then Explorer Group to Ascalon last year. Following the transaction, Explorer Group was renamed Direct Portfolio Group.
At the time, Aldersley was considering selling his remaining 20 per cent stake to Ascalon, though he held off to retain a controlling stake.
In an interesting twist, Aldersley's former merger partner, First Capital, sold Ascalon its 40 per cent stake last September, in turn handing the fund manager control of Direct Portfolio Group.
First Capital sold out of its shareholding in Explorer Group after terminating a share agreement with Aldersley.
In July 2006, Aldersley entered into an agreement with First Capital for the sale of his shares in Explorer Group, the holding company of Direct Portfolio Services.
Ascalon is co-owned by St George Bank and Kaplan Equity. Both hold 50 per cent of the shares in Ascalon.
