Ranger Direct Lending chairman bows out

The investment trust’s board's volte face last week means the portfolio will not appoint Ares as its new manager and instead start the process of winding down assets.

The chairman of the £129m Ranger Direct Lending fund, Chris Waldron, and one of its non-executive directors, Matthew Mulford, have announced that they will step down immediately from their positions following the news last week that the portfolio will be wound down.

The board of the beleaguered fund had planned on appointing alternative asset management giant Ares as the new manager of the portfolio but had run into push back from several of the largest investors in Ranger.

LIM Advisors and Oaktree Capital, the two investors, are critical of the board and its handling of a strategic review of the fund's investment managemement arranagements leading to pressure for change. 

On 11 June 2018 Ares notified Ranger’s board that it no longer wished to take up the position of investment manager

Now prior the fund’s annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow it appears the board will indeed see a changing of the guard, something also called for by the activist investors.

Ranger said in a statement: "Scott Canon (non-independent director) has also confirmed his intention to resign prior to the AGM.  Jonathan Schneider, the company's remaining non-executive director, intends to continue as a director. A vote on his re-election to the board will be held at the AGM." 

Analysts at investment bank Liberum say the move will be seen as a victory for Oaktree and LIM Advisors.

“They had already proposed the appointment of two new directors each at tomorrow's AGM and LIM Advisors had also proposed the removal of the Chairman. It remains to be seen how many of the four nominees are elected on to the board but it would seem likely that the majority of the board will comprise Oaktree's and LIM's appointees,” Liberum said.