Auckland-based boutique firm Castle Point Funds Management has just officially rattled past a couple of milestones that position it well for a new phase of growth, according to co-founder, Richard Stubbs.
Stubbs said Castle Point had recently tipped over $200 million in funds under management while racking up the all-important three-year track record that should give it further entree into the institutional market.
Asset consultants and research houses typically require three years of performance data before adding managers to their recommended lists.
“We are starting to get put forward for institutional mandates now, which is encouraging to see,” Stubbs said.
While Castle Point, whose team spun out of Tower Investments following its 2013 takeover by Fisher Funds, already has a largely wholesale clientbase, he said the firm was also gaining traction in the adviser market.
Last year the manager signed with third-party marketing business Heathcote Investment Partners to help distribute its range of retail funds via financial advisers.
“We’re getting a lot of enquiries from advisers – particularly around the 5 Oceans fund,” Stubbs said.
Castle Point launched the “balanced fund with proper downside protection” 5 Oceans product last year to complement the group’s other retail portfolio investment entity (PIE) product, the Ranger Fund.
As at last December, just two months after launch, 5 Oceans reported just over $1 million under management while the two-year old Ranger product was above $14 million.
Most of the Castle Point money is invested via the Australasian equities wholesale Trans-Tasman strategy. The Trans-Tasman strategy was the top-performer in its category over the 12 months to March 31, according to both the Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) and Aon most recent investment surveys. Aon also ranked the Trans-Tasman strategy first over the three-year period while MJW put it second behind the Salt Dividend Share fund (not included in the Aon category).
Stubbs said while the short-term performance figures were pleasing, Castle Point was more focused on longer-term metrics.
He said the firm would probably bring some of the support services, currently managed by seed partner NZAM, in-house over the next couple of years if growth continued on track.