Australia-based global equities manager, GCQ, has gone live with a wholesale NZ portfolio investment entity (PIE) in an inaugural fund-hosting win for Adminis.
The GCQ invests into the underlying concentrated international shares strategy launched by the Australian manager in 2022.
GCQ, standing for ‘global concentrated quality’ – and not to be confused with the Florida-headquartered, ASX-listed equities shop, GQG – was founded in 2021 by Douglas Tynan, Justin Hardwick and David Symons, who all formerly worked at VGI Partners.
VGI, a high-conviction global shares manager listed on the ASX, was acquired by Regal Funds Management in 2022.
Targeting high net-worth, family office and other wholesale investors, GCQ follows a similar high-conviction model with an expected portfolio holding of about 20 international ‘quality’ stocks at any one time.
Symons said that GCQ’s “involvement in the New Zealand market has grown out of Doug Tynan’s 15 year track record managing money for some of the country’s largest and most sophisticated family offices”.
“Several of these NZ families came across to GCQ, investing either in our Australian unit trust or in individually managed accounts, when we opened our doors to external investors in early 2022.”
But while the manager had received interest from other NZ investors, he said for many the tax benefits of a PIE structure were a “prerequisite” for many.
“While we will only ever offer one investment strategy, wherever feasible we want to provide access points that meet the needs of all investors with a philosophy that’s aligned with our own,” Symons said. “That’s why we established our PIE late last year. As we build our presence in New Zealand, our focus will be on establishing strong relationships with family offices and advisers to high net worth investors.”
The flagship fund returned more than 34 per cent last year (versus about 31 per cent for the MSCI World Index in Australian dollar terms) and over 106 per cent since inception.
In a recent investor letter, GCQ says: “Our returns were not driven by an excessive exposure to a single stock or market “theme” such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Instead, returns were achieved by owning a portfolio diversified across approximately eight high-quality, relatively uncorrelated industries…”
The current portfolio includes a mix of household names – such as Amazon, Visa and Alphabet – and lesser-known brands like Swedish property marketing firm, Hemnet.
Sam Dixon, head of funds distribution for the Christchurch-based investment banking firm Murray & Co, is responsible for marketing GCQ in NZ. Symons and other GCQ team members are in NZ this week on a promotional tour.
GCQ established the PIE version late last year, selecting Adminis to host the product in a first for the Wellington-based fund administration business.
As reported last year, Adminis decided to enter the fund-hosting market on the back of “explosive” demand from offshore managers
Matan Gan-El, Adminis chief, said at the time: “We initially thought there wasn’t much space in the market for a new fund-hosting business but the demand has grown at a speed we hadn’t anticipated.”
The local fund-hosting market is dominated by the Apex Group-owned FundRock NZ, which started life as Implemented Investment Solutions.
According to fund documents, the GCQ strategy requires a minimum investment of $50,000 with fees set at 1.25 per cent plus a performance fee of 15 per cent of returns above a, hurdle-adjusted, high water mark.
Trustees Executors is supervisor.