Industry veterans Julie Rigoni and Peter Dawson have teamed up to launch a new business advisory consulting firm aimed at Australian and offshore investment managers seeking to develop new distribution channels or requiring assistance with expanding their business.

The company, The Freshwater Partnership, will aim to assist offshore companies wanting to enter the Australian market and assist Australian managers with exporting their investment capabilities overseas.

“We will do this by taking away the pain of entering the Australian market for offshore companies, or international markets for local companies,” Dawson said. “This will streamline the process for any company moving into a new market, be this onshore or offshore.”

Rigoni agreed there was already a plethora of consultants in the market who were able to assist fund managers with business planning, distribution strategies and recruitment, but she claimed no other consultancy was able to offer all these capabilities under the one umbrella.

The business would work closely with clients to provide all the necessary tools for entering new markets, including market scoping reports, distribution strategies, competitor analysis, market appetite for products, legal and compliance issues, marketing, talent mapping and recruitment services.

Up until recently, Dawson was the executive director at Financial Recruitment Group, and before that he held senior positions at Perpetual Funds Management, LGT Asset Management and Chifley Financial Services.

For the past decade, Rigoni developed and ran the Best of Breed Global Research and Investment program and the Advisers Big Day Out program. Before that she worked in senior sales and marketing roles for global investment managers.