Dawnay Day Milroy, a hedge fund firm, has further distanced itself from the troubles at UK-based Dawnay Day Group by holding a management buyout and changing its brand-name.

The Channel Islands-based firm, with offices in Jersey and Guernsey, will be renamed as Corazon Capital Management. The company will no longer have any business relatitions with Dawnay Day.

Dawnay Day, the £2 billion UK financial conglomerate, which has interests spanning retail stores through to stockbroking, has recently become the latest victim of the credit crunch, posting heavy losses. It has appointed Ernst & Young to conduct a strategic review of its businesses, such as hotels, retail chains, a brokerage and other operations.

At Dawnay Day Milroy, the firm has already stated that it had suffered no adverse effects from its links to the Dawnay Day group. The business has $1.2 billion worth of assets under management. It was founded in 1997 by Robert Milroy. It entered into a licensing agreement in 2002 to use the Dawnay Day name, although it remained managed and owned from the Channel Islands.

At Dawnay Day Milroy, half of the firm was already owned by the management and the other half was owned by private shareholders and investors in the Channel Islands. The buy-out of the remaining shareholders is being led by joint-managing directors, Mr Milroy and Paul Meader, and is funded by the management team.

“Our new Corazon identity will allow us to capitalise on over 10 years of growth and success.  We continue to focus on our long term expansion plans, such as our forthcoming Geneva office opening and a series of innovative product launches.  We will also concentrate on what we do best – delivering outstanding investment performance and high quality service.  It’s an exciting time to be at Corazon,” Mr Meader said.