Jardine retail operations are born again
As part of a new drive into the retail market, Dresdner RCM Global Investors (DRCM) has acquired Jardine Fleming Australia’s unit trust business in Australia.
It has also taken over Jardine's Masterpiece Funds in New Zealand.
While DRCM managing director Peter Rayner will not disclose amounts, he describes the price as a "very good price for us."
"You don't get too many fits like this. It's almost perfect, apart from some duplication," he says, noting similarities in the DRCM and Jardine Fleming investments styles and philosophies.
The deal brings in a ready-made product range from DRCM which has long been planning a thrust into the Australia retail market. It also eliminates the start up costs that would have been incurred.
The unit trusts - Jardine's Taipan, global equity, European equity, Australian growth, Pacific equity and Japan equity funds - will now be sold under the DRCM brand.
They bring with them funds under management of $84 million - a far cry from Jardine's 1993 high of about $500 million.
About 10,000 Jardine Fleming unit holders are affected and Jardine's World Wide Strategy Fund is not included in the deal.
Hard hit by the Asian crisis, Jardine Fleming decided last year to exit the retail market. Earlier this year, it launched a partnership with Capital Partners to sharpen its focus on the wholesale market.
Jardine Fleming managing director Tony Morgan says: "Our key strength is in managing institutional money and we now intend to devote all of our attention to that business."
He says the group spoke to a number of managers in a bid to get the best deal for its clients, including Ord Minnett, in which the global Jardine Fleming organisation has a stake. "DRCM offered the best fit," he says.
DRCM is part of the Dresdner Bank Group which had over US$229 billion in assets under management and advice at the end of 1998.
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