Volcker Rule results in Axium name change

In order to comply with the Volcker Rule section of the US Dodd-Frank Act, Canadian fund manager Fiera Axium Infrastructure has changed its name to Axium Infrastructure.

For the same reason, the firm has also changed the name of its investment funds to AxInfra in the US and Axium Infrastructure in Canada.

The Volcker Rule prohibits ‘covered’ funds from having the same name as a parent banking entity, or any affiliate or subsidiary. As a shareholder participating in the control of Axium, Fiera Capital – which is under the control of the National Bank of Canada – was held to be subject to the rules.

A spokesperson for Axium Infrastructure said the firm was “undergoing a process to free ourselves of the application of US banking regulations. The change of name was one step in that process”.

In a simultaneous announcement, the firm announced the appointment of Thierry Vandal as president of its US subsidiary, Axium Infrastructure US. Until May this year, Vandal was president and chief executive officer of Hydro-Quebec, one of North America’s largest power companies.

Based in Montreal – with other offices in Toronto, Vancouver and New York – Axium Infrastructure has 40 team members and manages infrastructure funds with more than C$1.4 billion (€940 million; $1.1 billion) in assets under management.

In March this year, a consortium led by Fiera Axium acquired a minority stake in a 1,100-megawatt US wind portfolio from EDP Renewables, the Spanish developer. The previous month, it led a consortium which acquired container terminal operator Montreal Gateway Terminals from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.