HFA back in the black
Publicly listed hedge funds and alternatives specialist HFA Holdings Limited has moved back into the black, reporting a modest net profit after tax for the year ended 30 June, well up on the $573.18 million loss recorded in the previous financial year.
The company, which has significantly repositioned and rebranded itself in the market over the past 12 months, benefited strongly from the recovery in its US operations and claimed that with total funds under management falling less than 2 per cent to $5.51 billion there had been a stabilisation and deleveraging.
Commenting on the result, HFA chief executive Spencer Young said the full year results were a strong positive as the company had now dealt with the ramifications of the global financial crisis.
Referring to the performance in the US, Young said that the Lighthouse Partners result had been particularly pleasing given its approach to investment via managed accounts.
Young noted the rebranding of the Australian HFA Asset Management business to Certitude Global Investments and its repositioning as a multi-asset class active funds manager.
“Our Australian business continued to feel the pressure from the structural upheaval of the Australian retail fund management market,” he said. “We are beginning to see evidence of a stabilisation in the local market and have recently repositioned the business to maximise opportunities as the investment environment returns to more historically normal levels.”
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
Private wealth manager Escala Partners has increased its alternatives allocations to more than a third in the past three years, describing the asset class as offering “fertile ground” for diversification.
The Financial Services Council has recommended implementing a per capita limit per annum for financial advisers when it comes to the CSLR levy to allow them to expand their business without levy uncertainty.
DASH Technology Group has seen a 49 per cent uplift in its carrying value and is completing a new capital raising, having already received $30 million from growth investor Bailador.
At the halfway point of the year, consolidation pressures continue to drive financial services M&A with three areas identified as targets for asset and wealth managers, according to PwC’s mid-year outlook.
