By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Commoditrade Inc., a London-listed investment firm, rebranded its wholly owned asset-management unit as Mentum LLP and will open to outside investors as of March 1. Mentum was previously known as AMCO Commodities LLP and was bought by Grand Cayman-based Commoditrade a year ago. Mentum starts with internal funds of $20 million, handled by five portfolio managers, Keiron Mathias, one of them, said in an interview in London yesterday. Unlike hedge-fund firm AMCO, Mentum will look after money in so-called managed accounts. Three of the managers trade the six primary metals listed on the London Metal Exchange and two handle energy derivatives on ICE Futures Europe and the New York Mercantile Exchange. The managers include Chris Adams, a former head of the industrial-metals floor trading team at Sucden Financial Ltd. The AMCO fund returned 21 percent from its May 2006 inception through February 2009, when it was acquired by Commoditrade, Mathias said. Assets under management at the time of the purchase were $100 million, he added. Bluecrest Capital Management Ltd. holds 27 percent in Commoditrade, whose share price has declined 35 percent in the past 12 months, taking market capitalization to 10.8 million pounds ($16.7 million). To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net.

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