Investor relations firm Cadarn Capital has added HgCapital Trust (HGT ) and VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF ) to its stable, increasing its number of partners to five.

Set up in April this year, London-based Cadarn provides in-depth coverage to their partnered trusts, all of which either offer access to illiquid assets, use gearing or have a concentrated portfolio.

Existing partners include Bill Ackman’s US equity hedge fund Pershing Square Holdings (PSH ), debt fund CVC Income & Growth (CVCG ) and biotech investor RTW Venture Opportunities (RTW ), with the additions of the private equity HGT and VOF bringing its total covered assets to £14.3bn.

‘We want a focus group of non-conflicting best-in-class strategies that are each in their own way harnessing the closed-end structure,’ managing director David Harris told Citywire.

Harris (above) was head of distribution at Frostrow Capital, whose major clients include UK equity income trust Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT ) and multi-manager Witan (WTAN ), before leaving to set up Cadarn. Pershing Square and VOF were previously with Frostrow.

‘I was driven by my ambition to try something, it wasn’t the case that I thought things weren’t being done properly,’ Harris said. ‘I wanted to focus on a smaller number of clients and get a better understanding of each of them.’

Given Cadarn’s focus on specialist trusts, it is no surprise that each of them is trading at a double-digit discount to net asset value.

Harris and his team engage with shareholders and intend to ‘push the envelope’ by being imaginative in terms of reach and geography.

The employee-owned Cadarn is incentivised to narrow discounts, with the aim of rerating the shares in trusts to a premium, issue stock and grow the company.

‘The listed fund sector is in the middle of a major regime change driven by investment management consolidation and a change in investor behaviour,’ Harris said. ‘The challenge requires strong, imaginative and bold action. Effective marketing, clear messaging, and distribution have never been more important.’