A new independent marketing agency for the asset management industry has been formed as a result of a management buyout (MBO) in London. 2112 already counts international groups such as AllianceBernstein, T Rowe Price and PGIM as its clients, and is being spun out of SEC Newgate.

Pronounced ‘twenty-one, twelve’, the firm began life with the support of Porta Group, the parent company of Newgate Communications, which merged with SEC in 2019. The new board consists of two original members – Phil Hawkins (pictured centre), founder and CEO, and Andrew Golding (right), chief strategy and commercial officer. Aaron Williams (left) joins the board as CFO.

Golding said it was a mutually convenient time for both businesses to pursue different growth objectives, with 2112 focusing on international asset management marketing.

‘The catalyst for us is to invest in the business to extend our capabilities further for our clients, [and] to extend our reach internationally. A lot of our clients are emigrating in terms of communications: east to west west to east. We want to provide really cutting-edge marketing solutions to the industry,’ said Golding.

The firm provides a range of marketing services including brand positioning, integrated digital campaigns and user experience. Clients operate in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the US. Mirabaud, Nikko Asset Management and Federated Hermes are also among its client roster.

Hawkins said: ‘If we can have a presence in the three major time zones: North America, Europe and Asia and we can deliver consistently, as a focused specialist group that really understands the markets and can deliver efficiently in those territories, we think it will be really compelling.’

He added: ‘We already have a strong partnership with an agency based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and have a joint venture with them called 2112 Asia, who we work with day to day. And we have a partnership that gives us access to the US. But in the UK we work with US companies. A big US company we know came to us to use our partner in Asia for a Chinese New Year campaign.’

Golding said there had been dramatic shifts in marketing over the past two years – a shift to digital, the saturation of social media, and the ‘gold rush’ to ESG – which he said had forced asset management brands to become ‘much more human and accessible’.

The MBO was arranged and negotiated through M&A and corporate finance specialist, SRC Corporate Finance and was majority-funded by SME Capital. Hawkins said that on top of a five-year agreement, SME Capital will also fund the firm’s growth.

The name is taken from the original company’s founding date on 21 December 2012. It is also the title of Canadian rock group Rush’s 1976 dystopian rock album; the code name for the MBO was ‘project Rush’.

Fiorenzo Tagliabue, chief executive of SEC Newgate said: ‘The separation of 2112 from the group via an MBO will enable both organisations to pursue their individual strategies that follow different objectives.’