Challenger has handed the management of its $1 billion large cap Australian equities portfolio to newly created boutique manager Alphinity Investment Management.
Alphinity is the latest boutique addition to Challenger’s stable, and consists of former Alliance Bernstein portfolio manager and analysts Johan Carlberg, Andrew Martin, Bruce Smith and Stephane Andre — with a fifth team member to be announced shortly.
Carlberg and his colleagues take the reins from Challenger’s internal team, headed by Peter Greentree. The existing team will cease managing Challenger’s Australian Share Fund and Select Australian Share Fund on 9 July.
The handover followed recent ratings downgrades from research house Standard & Poor’s (S&P), which downgraded the two equity strategies to three stars in May. The research house said the downgrade was based on “team departures and ongoing performance issues”.
S&P Fund Services analyst Simone Arblaster said the creation of Challenger’s new boutique represented significant change, “not only in team and structure, but style as well”.
The changes prompted S&P to place the share funds ‘on hold’ until the new team is settled.
Carlberg was previously the portfolio manager of the AXA Australian Equity Growth and Industrial funds, but resigned from Alliance Bernstein in early May along with his three analysts. While Martin, Smith and Andre joined Challenger this week, Carlberg will join early next month.
S&P held the team in “high regard” during their time with their former employer.
