By Ross Kelly
Macquarie Bank has signed letters of intent with two Australian boutique fund mangers as part of a series of exclusive distribution deals that will trigger the release of a host of externally managed funds to the retail market in the coming months.
News of the deals came at last week’s launch of two new Macquarie global equities funds to be managed in exclusive relationships by New York-based fund manager Morgan Stanley and Edinburgh-based boutique Walter Scott.
The new funds will be part of Macquarie’s recently formed Professional Series, a division independent of Macqurie’s in-house funds management business.
Macquarie advisers services division director Peter Shepherd said the bank planned to sign eight to 10 external managers in total as part of the Professional Series.
He said the new division was mainly aimed at the independent financial adviser market and was created because of increasing client demand from boutique and specialist investment managers.
With $5.3 billion funds under management, the Macquarie Morgan Stanley Global Franchise Fund is an absolute return long-only value based fund and contains a concentrated portfolio of 20 stocks.
The offer to Australian investors will be capped at $500 million.
Morgan Stanley executive director Ewa Borowska said the company was attracted to Australia because it wanted to “establish a well diversified asset base”.
The Macquarie Walter Scott Global Equities Fund is a growth fund that offers a concentrated portfolio of 46-60 companies. Walter Scott is a boutique manager established in Edinburgh in 1983 with US$15.3 billion funds under management.
