Janus Henderson is actively seeking to partner with private wealth firms in Australia as it looks to expand its number of strategic partnerships.
Earlier this year, the firm announced it has signed a deal with North American life insurer Guardian Life to run the US$45 billion ($75.5 billion) portfolio for Guardian’s general account which includes investment grade corporates and securitised credit. Guardian Life will also provide US$400 million for the development of fixed income products.
Discussing what products this could include, Jay Sivapalan, head of Australian fixed interest, said: “We want to develop products that are useful to a North American insurer so they have committed a minimum of US$400 million for new product innovations. Because insurers typically invest 90 per cent of their assets in fixed income globally, most of the innovations will be in fixed income, but what the innovations look like is yet to be determined.
“One area that is probably an easy one would be in the securitised area, and these are products that will also be available more broadly to the market.”
Having closed on this deal at the start of July, the firm is now considering other potential deals which could include working with firms in Australia. The firm has a long history in Australia and was listed on the ASX until December 2023.
Sivapalan said: “We are looking at similar transactions across North America, Europe, APAC and in Australia. It could be with an insurer, pension funds, superannuation funds, private wealth and family offices.
“We tend to be open-minded about inorganic acquisitions here in Australia and partnerships in Australia. The strategy of the firm is both organic growth as well as targeted inorganic growth and targeted win-win strategic partnerships.
“We have had some discussions with private wealth groups about dedicated funds for their use. There are some very visible public offer funds, but we have also been winning business in inflation plus products, sustainable credit and asset liability portfolios.”
It gave the example of the acquisition of a stake in global private credit manager Victory Park from Australian asset manager Pacific Current Group in August 2024 and of European ETF provider Tabula in July 2024.
Looking at where the asset manager is seeing demand from its Australian clients, he said the main focus is on retirement income and the move into decumulation. In particular, he flagged demand for government bonds, inflation-linked bonds, corporate credit, residential-mortage backed securities and asset-backed securities which will all play a role in retirement income solutions.
“We are only scratching the surface of decumulation. If we look forward, we can see a lot of demand for retirement income, decumulation and transition to retirement capabilities. Traditional fixed income isn’t typically a focus in accumulation, although the market has grown, but in decumulation it will be a key asset class to deliver retirement income. Areas such as annuities, salary replacement, credit income, these all require fixed income.
“You will see more joint partnerships between asset managers like us, insurers, superannuation funds, and then the advice market will utilise those products for their clients.”
