Firetrail’s Absolute Fund exceeds $73.5m


The initial public offering of Firetrail Absolute Return Limited (FTA) has exceeded its minimum target of $73.5 million, with the deal remaining now open for firm bids above $73.5 million.
The listed investment company (LIC), which aimed to provide investors with access to an ‘alternative’ source of investment returns, uncorrelated to Australian and global share markets, is managed by Firetrail Investments Pty Limited, an affiliated fund manager of Pinnacle Investment Management.
The IPO intended to raise up $304.5 million by issuing 145,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares at an application price of $2.10 per share with the ability to receive oversubscriptions up to $378 million.
The product capacity was constrained to $1 billion which included the FTA raise and the unlisted fund, the firm said.
The offer is expected to close on 19 October 2018.
FTA said it would employ the same investment strategy as the Firetrail Absolute Return Fund.
Prior to establishing Firetrail earlier this year, co-portfolio managers Patrick Hodgens and James Miller ran the Macquarie Pure Alpha Fund, a similar market-neutral investment strategy.
“The strong early demand for the strategy illustrates an increasing move by investors towards alternative investment products,” chair of Firetrail Absolute Return Limited Deirdre Wroth said.
Recommended for you
Lonsec and SQM Research have highlighted manager selection as a crucial risk for financial advisers when it comes to private market investments, particularly due to the clear performance dispersion.
Macquarie Asset Management has indicated its desire to commit the fast-growing wealth business in Australia by divesting part of its public investment business to Japanese investment bank Nomura.
Australia’s “sophisticated” financial services industry is a magnet for offshore fund managers, according to a global firm.
The latest Morningstar asset manager survey believes ETF providers are likely to retain the market share they have gained from active managers.