Sagitta forms global property alliance

Sagitta Wealth Managementhas formed an international alliance with a property securities manager, the first such alliance under the group’s new structure since Rothschild Australia Asset Management was acquired byWestpaclast June.

Sagitta has made an alliance with United States property company AEW Capital Management, based in Boston, who will manage Sagitta clients’ exposure to global property securities markets. AEW is one of the biggest investors of real estate capital and managers of real estate portfolios with $12.2 billion net assets under management.

The alliance will give Australian retail investors access to AEW’s US property securities expertise through Sagitta Rothschild’s balanced funds.

“Global property securities are a relatively new asset class for Australian investors and we see significant diversification potential from it within balanced funds. With the present volatile market conditions there is an increasing demand and need to diversify,” Sagitta chief executive Peter Martin says.

Sagitta can also offer discrete mandates to institutional clients and is looking at possibly launching a wholesale unit trust, with a view to retail investors accessing it through master fund menus.

Through the alliance, the two groups also intend to look at opportunities in less developed global property securities markets as they mature.

The latest global alliance marks the fourth for the group, who has previously established relationships with US company Putnum, to manage international equities, Chicago based Grosvenor Capital, to manage the Sagitta Rothschild Global Return Fund and New York based BlackRock, to manage global fixed interest markets.

“Sagitta’s investment alliance strategy is based on the premise that if we do not have the appropriate resources in-house, we will seek strategic alliances with partners considered the best in their field,” Martin says.