National Australia Bank’s (NAB’s) direct asset manager business, nabInvest, has acquired a non-controlling interest in the US-based Altrinsic Global Advisors for an undisclosed sum.
This acquisition is nabInvest’s first investment in such a business, according to chief executive officer Garry Mulcahy, who added it was an important part of NAB’s direct asset management strategy.
Altrinsic was founded in 2000 and currently manages over US$12 billion for clients globally, including US$3 billion from institutional Australian investors.
Based in Connecticut, Altrinsic identifies investment opportunities via their bottom-up research covering larger to smaller companies across developed and emerging markets.
“Global asset classes, such as international equities, will continue to be attractive, especially given the current heavy bias of Australian investors to Australian equities,” Mulcahy said.
“As the pools of superannuation funds increase, investors will need to look offshore to find value,” he added.
NabInvest, which manages approximately $45 billion, stated the terms of the arrangement with Altrinsic were confidential.
