Boutique funds management groupInvestors Mutualwill launch two new funds before the end of the year as part of an expansion plan, according to managing director Anton Tagliaferro.
The two funds, an Australian smaller companies fund and a balanced fund will sit alongside the group’s current fund offerings of the Australian Share Fund and Sandhurst Industrial Share Fund, and a wholesale version of the smaller companies fund.
Each of these are accessible through master trust and wrap accounts, and national marketing manager Mark Folpp says they are on offer through a range of platforms with about 35 different planning groups.
“The rate of inflows into the funds has been at a rate of $12 to $15 million per month, at the end of August, with 75 per cent of those inflows coming via master trusts,” Folpp says.
However Folpp says the group expects more interest in the coming months as it is due to receive a manager rating from research houseAssirt, and will also be examined byAsgardfor inclusion on its master trust recommended list.
Furthermore, Folpp says the closure byJB Wereof its smaller companies fund has driven interest in the Investor’s Mutual fund.
Both new funds will be launched under the Sandhurst badge as part of that group’s push into wealth management, confirming the long held relationship the two groups have as a result of combining to roll out the industrial share fund in 1999.
“We have always had a strong relationship with Sandhurst and this brings in more than $5 million into the funds per month. It is part of our business having remained with its retail focus and we hope to increase our figures through the further targeting of planning groups,” Tagliaferro says.
Investors Mutual, which currently has more than $350 million in funds under management, was previously involved withInvestorWebbut the two groups went separate ways in June this year. Since then the Treasury Group has taken a 50 per cent stake in Investors Mutual with Rodney Green taking on the role of chief operating officer and Tagliaferro holding the role of chief investment officer. Green was previously withPerpetual Investmentsas managing director before leaving the group earlier this year.
