Austock Group has sold its asset management business, which encompasses the Austock High Yield Fund and the Austock Australian Equity Fund.
The business has been purchased by Martin Ryan, who was one of the founders of Austock in 1991.
The consideration will comprise 3.2 million Austock shares.
The shares will be held in trust by Austock Employee Share Trust for the purposes of attracting and retaining senior executives, incentivising staff to perform and aligning the interests of senior staff with those of shareholders.
Austock said its business strategy is to simplify its business structure, reduce costs, maintain its strong cash position and focus all its energies on core business units.
Austock also said its investment management businesses remain solid, with collective funds under management holding up well through the current global economic turmoil.
"This is a dynamic environment where we need to position ourselves for a market recovery. Each business unit must be profitable or show strong near-term upside potential," Austock managing director Tim Boyle said.
