GQG Partners, the US global manager supported by Australian-listed Pacific Current Group, has celebrated its first anniversary by passing the US$5 billion mark in assets under management, more than A$1 billion of which is from Australian investors.
Pacific Current (the former Treasury Group) is a minority shareholder and Australian and New Zealand distributor for Florida-based GQG, which was launched in June last year by Rajiv Jain, the CIO. He was previously the famed CIO of Vontobel Asset Management.
Stephen Bramley, Pacific Current’s head of distribution for Asia Pacific, said there had been strong interest in both GQG’s global and emerging markets strategies from Australian investors. As you’d expect from the A$1 billion raised in 12 months, there was strong support from local asset consultants, he said.
The manager, through Pacific Current, also successfully launched Australian unit trusts in partnership with Equity Trustees this year.
It won multiple clients across both the global and EM funds from both Australian and New Zealand institutional investors prior to launch to help seed trusts, Bramley said.
“There’s also a steady flow of Australian institutional investors and asset consultants visiting GQG Partners in Fort Lauderdale [head office].”
Globally, more than 100 institutional investors have backed the new firm with investment mandates, many of who have not previously invested with Rajiv Jain-managed funds.
In a statement last week, Jain said: ““Managing another person’s wealth is a privilege and an honor. We fundamentally believe that the best way to ensure long-term client focus is to invest our own capital in the same strategies, right beside our clients’ assets.
“We also invested meaningfully into the business right from the beginning to build a world-class institutional platform and assemble a team of senior experts, with a diversity of thoughts and experiences…
“We create a portfolio of companies that we believe have long-term growth prospects which aren’t strongly correlated to macroeconomic conditions. Our approach is rooted in adaptability and independent thought, allowing us to navigate inflection points over the long term.”
A good part of the US growth followed the deal with Goldman Sachs last December to launch the Goldman Sachs GQG Partners International Opportunities Fund, which is a concentrated equity portfolio across both developed and emerging markets. GQG launched its own emerging markets opportunities fund at the same time.
Greg Bright is publisher of Investor Strategy News (Australia)