Toronto-based Sprott Inc. (TSX: SII) announced Friday that it has received the necessary investor and regulatory approvals to complete the previously announced transfer of the management contracts for two specialty funds from Royce & Associates, LLC to Sprott Asset Management and Sprott USA, effective March 9.

The Royce Focus Trust, Inc. (Nasdaq:FUND) and one other alternative equity fund will continue to be managed by Whitney George, who has joined Sprott as a senior portfolio manager. Together, the funds have approximately $285 million in assets under management.

“We are pleased to welcome Whitney to our team and look forward to working with him to continue the growth of our U.S. business,” said Peter Grosskopf, CEO of Sprott, in a news release. “The addition of these two funds is an important step in the process of expanding our product and geographic diversity.”