In another blow for Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM), they have been dumped by BT Financial Group as manager of its Partner International Value Fund to be replaced by a division of Alliance Bernstein.
The rejection of BIAM is the next in a long line of woes for the Dublin-based fund manager, triggered late last year by the defection of the core of their funds management team to Perpetual’s newly established Ireland-based international equities arm.
But the new deal is a big catch for Berstien Investment Research and Management, a division of Alliance Capital Management, who will take control of the $109 million currently in BT’s fund as of May 13.
BT says Bernstein were picked because of their strong investment philosophy and quality of process.
“Bernstein’s emphasis on research based stock selection, the quality and organization of its research effort and the efficiency and rigor with which it tests and incorporates ideas into clients’ portfolios contributed to its appointment, as did its robust risk management disciplines,” said BT head of investment manager selection group Stewart Brentnall.
Bernstein is a value manager founded in the United States in 1967. In 2000, the organisation was acquired by the Alliance Capital Management Group and in 2001, AXA took a 50 per cent stake and brought Bernstein to Australia. The fund manager can also be accessed by Australian retail investors through the AXA Global Equity Value Fund, while institutional investors will know the manager as Alliance Bernstein.
Bernstein has over US$149 billion assets under management globally.
