Fund Manager of the Year 2014: Australian Equities (Broad Cap)

Winner

Lazard Select Australian Equity Fund 

Finalists

Hyperion Australian Growth Companies Fund 

Bennelong Australian Equities Fund

Ignoring market “noise” and striving for sustainable, quality investments has been a key driver of success for Australian Equities (Broad Cap) winner Lazard Asset Management Pacific Co.  

The Australian Equities team tries to drill down to companies’ intrinsic worth, taking the emotion out of investment decisions.  

It has clearly been a winning strategy, with the global firm’s Australian equities fund returning more than 18 per cent before fees in the 12 months to 31 March, 2014. 

“The key competitive advantage of Lazard Pacific’s management of Australian equities is our disciplined approach to valuation-driven investing,” portfolio managers Rob Osborn and Phillipe Tison said.   

“Our valuations are based on our assessment of companies’ normalised earnings in three years time and are not affected by the equity market’s emotional reactions to events and news of less lasting significance - share price action that we regard as 'noise’.” 

For finalist Hyperion, 2013-14 was similarly positive about investing in high quality businesses and adopting a patient approach.  

“We see ourselves as business owners rather than traders, and our investment horizon is a minimum of five years,” Hyperion’s chief investment officer, Mark Arnold, said. “We think that that approach results in outperformance over the longer term.” 

Bennelong’s Australian Equities Fund again cited investment in high quality companies as the marker of their strong year.  

“Our 'quality first’ philosophy helps us navigate our way through changing markets,” Bennelong Australian Equity Partners chief executive officer Paul Cuddy said.