Corporate raider Mariner is understood to have swooped on as much as 5 per cent of listed diversified financial services company Investorfirst Securities, just two days after shelving a bid for Austock Group.

Mariner is thought to have purchased 31.9 million shares at 1.5¢ each, via Macquarie Capital, sources said. The purchase is believed to relate in large part to a sell-down by former Investorfirst executive chairman Otto Buttula , following an announcement this week that he was resigning from his post.