Colonial First State (CFS) has appointed J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) to manage two global equity strategies run as multimanager single sector options.
These multimanager funds are managed by specialist portfolio managers that are chosen for their performance capability, investment process and risk management discipline.
The JPMAM Global Select and Global Emerging Markets Analyst funds will provide access to global equities, focusing on long-term fundamentals and cover a universe of over 2,500 stocks.
Jonathan Armitage, chief investment officer at CFS, said: “Our decision to appoint JPMAM to manage allocations within our global and emerging markets equity options reflects their depth of research capability and disciplined investment approach.
“Their strategies provide access to high-conviction stock ideas supported by extensive on-the-ground insights and a robust global research platform. This appointment aligns with our commitment to delivering strong, risk-aware outcomes for our members.”
Andrew Creber, chief executive for Australia and New Zealand at JPMAM, said: “We are delighted to be appointed and appreciate the strong engagement with CFS throughout the process. It was important for us to showcase our core investment strategy, where stock-level decisions serve as the primary alpha driver.
“The depth and breadth of our research team is our key differentiator as a leading global active manager and we are proud to see our active equities platform grow to be a multibillion-dollar business through the support of our Australian clients.”
This is the second deal CFS has made with JPMAM in recent months as it was announced in August that it had partnered with the global asset manager on a private equity allocation which will invest in secondaries and co-investment with a focus on small and mid-cap buyout transactions.
JPMAM’s Private Equity Group (PEG) manages US$35 billion ($54 billion) on behalf of a global client base, utilising a bottom-up, opportunistic investment approach that seeks to identify high-conviction ideas across more than 250 general partner relationships.
Last month, the firm announced it had launched a third fund with Wellington Management which was launched across its FirstChoice and Edge platforms and is designed to provide investors with long-term capital growth from global equities.
CFS and US-based Wellington Management, which will be the fund’s investment manager, have worked together for 20 years, and Wellington is a CFS alliance partner. Other funds run by Wellington include the CFS Wellington Global Health and Biotechnology and the CFS Wellington Global Technology and Communication.
Wellington has $1.9 trillion in assets under management and began operating in Australia in 1997.
