AMP Capital is set to offload its infrastructure equity arm to US alternative asset firm, Apollo Global Management, Bloomberg reported last week.
The deal would see AMP Capital (now known as Collimate Capital) shed between US$5 billion to US$7 billion of assets, according to Bloomberg, as soon as this week.
Former AMP Capital global head of direct investments, Dylan Foo, joined Apollo in 2019. Foo now runs the US$8 billion plus Apollo infrastructure business along with Geoff Strong.
In February this year, the Los Angeles-based Ares Management completed its buyout of the AMP Capital US$8 billion infrastructure debt unit for almost A$430 million. Ares was earlier vying to purchase all of the AMP Capital private markets assets after its previous bid to buy the entire ASX-listed AMP fell over.
AMP is preparing to spin-off Collimate, headed by Shawn Johnson, in a separate ASX-listing but trade-buyers have also been circling the sought-after private assets.
The group finalised the sale of its listed global equities and fixed income (GEFI) unit to Macquarie at the end of March.
Last week saw another key moment in AMP history as the group shifted its corporate headquarters from the iconic Circular Quay waterfront building on 33 Alfred St – home to the business for about 60 years – round the corner to 50 Bridge St.
But as the AMP Capital brand disappears a number of other storied Australasian funds management firms are also facing competitive pressures.
For example, the ASX-listed Pendal (formerly the famous Westpac-owned BT investment house) rebuffed a A$2.4 billion takeover offer from rival firm, Perpetual last week.
In a release, Pendal says the board: “… has assessed the Indicative Proposal and unanimously determined that it significantly undervalues the current and future value of Pendal and is therefore not in the best interests of shareholders.”
Perpetual and Pendal have about A$80 billion and A$125 billion under management, respectively. Perpetual and Pendal have been relatively quiet in NZ markets in recent years although both were popular managers in the retail market at one time.
Like many managers, Pendal reported a tough first quarter of this year as funds under management fell about A$11 billion, including A700 million of net outflows.
However, Nick Good, Pendal chief, said in a release that the firm had seen positive flows in the UK and European markets “including a sizable additional investment from St James Place [SJP]”.
Fellow Australian manager, Magellan, lost a long-standing mandate with SJP – the largest UK financial advisory group – last December, worth about A$23 billion at the time.
Magellan, also popular among NZ retail investors, has since steadied fund outflows that ramped up in the wake of the SJP loss and subsequent corporate instability (including the exit of founder, Hamish Douglass, from executive and governance duties). According to its mid-March update, Magellan reported net outflows of A$1.1 billion in the last half of the month, down from the A$3.2 billion recorded in the final two weeks of February.
Overall, Magellan assets under management rose slightly during the two-week period from A$69 billion to over $70 billion.
Last week Magellan also revealed the 20 largest holders of its recently issued options with Douglass topping the list, claiming almost 12 per cent of the total pool.
Meanwhile, Platinum Asset Management – who Magellan replaced as the Australia-based global equities most-favoured manager in the NZ market some years ago – is also having some down-time.
Platinum reported net outflows of $222 million in March to end the month with A$19.4 billion under management.
Both Platinum and Magellan are trading near all-time lows on the ASX, closing at a respective A$1.85 (against a 12-month high of A$5.1) and A$16.34 (down from A$56.1 last year).