Mediolanum International Funds has invested more than €1bn (£860m) between RWC Partners and two other UK boutiques for equity mandates within its multi-manager range.
The mandates, which also include investments with Cadence Investment Partners and Intermede, form part of Mediolanum IF's objective of investing €10bn across global specialist boutique managers over the next five years, and follows similar partnerships with US boutiques SGA and NZS Capital earlier in March.
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The bulk of the investments, which will also see Mediolanum IF bolster the boutiques' distribution capabilities, has been handed to London-based Intermede, with €700m (£601m) allocated to the firm's Global Equity strategy through a sub-advisory mandate.
Founded in 2014, Mediolanum IF said Intermede's "research-intensive, fundamental, bottom-up investment philosophy has led to a high-quality growth focused strategy with a concentrated portfolio…and a strong active share".
Around €300m (£257m) has been allocated to RWC Partners, investing €60m (£51m) in the firm's emerging markets strategy and seeding a mandate of €240m in Nick Clay's newly launched Global Equity Income Strategy.
Commenting on the allocation, portfolio manager Clay said: "We look forward to building a strong long-term partnership with Mediolanum IF as we embark on our journey at RWC.
"We have successfully achieved long term capital growth and sustainable income from our portfolio of global securities and through this partnership will now be able to bring this success to Mediolanum IF's clients."
Finally Edinburgh-based Cadence has been allocated €130m (£112m) for its flagship Asia strategy.
Also founded in 2014, Mediolanum IF said Cadence is "a long-term investor focused on intrinsic value investing within high quality businesses, capable of translating the growth of Asia into superior returns".
Commenting on the mandates, Mediolanum IF CEO Furio Pietribiasi said all three boutiques "are highly specialised players with exceptional track records".
"This is the result of the extensive work of our experienced and capable research team, which allows us to bring some brand-new talent and capabilities to our clients, which might not be accessible otherwise," he added.
"Our objective remains clear. We want at least one third of all our assets managed externally, around €10bn, to be allocated to boutique managers within the next five years.
"Our flexibility and solid infrastructure have proven to be instrumental in supporting start-ups founded by very small teams, as well as more established managers like RWC, which is an entrepreneurial organisation made up of different teams of high performing investment professionals".
