BTFM answers the critics
BT Funds Management believes it will be close to the top of the inflow tables when Assirt releases its market share report for the June quarter next month.
BTFM says it has recorded inflows of $1.6 billion since the start of the year which it says is a record for the group. Assirt figures for the first three months of the year put BTFM's inflows at just over $400 million which means the group has brought in more than $1 billion since the beginning of April.
BTFM managing director Ian Martin says the figures are a reflection of the strong recovery of the group since the takeover by Principal about a year ago.
Martin also used the occasion of the first anniversary of the BT/ Principal relationship to fire a broadside at competitors who had been running down BTFM in recent months over its decision to maintain its international investment team in Australia.
"Far from being a disadvantage as described by some of our competitors, managing international funds from Australia is a competitive advantage for BT," he said.
A number of commentators have remarked on the growth of the outsourcing of international funds management to US and European based fund managers in the past few months. Rothschild recently signed an agreement with Putnam, Perpetual have been using Fidelity for a number of years and Macquarie has been ramping up its relationship with Lazard.
Chief investment officer Andre Maroney also weighed into the debate. He likened BT's position in the Australian market to that of Sony in Japan in the 1950s when the group set out to destroy the notion that electronic equipment made in Japan was of inferior quality.
"We think we can prove that Australians can be at least the equal of European and US managers," he says.
On top of the success in the retail market in the past six months, Martin says its international business has also started to regain momentum. One dollar in every six managed by BT is now sourced from outside of Australia.
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