Going global rewards BTIM

A weaker Australian dollar and a strategy deliberately leveraging a broader global investment presence has paid dividends for BT Investment Management (BTIM) when it released its full-year results last week.

BTIM turned in a record cash net profit of $132.5 million. In an interview with Money Management soon after releasing the full-year results to the Australian Securities Exchange, BTIM's chief executive, Emilio Gonzalez acknowledged the benefit which had flowed from the devaluation of the Australian dollar but attributed more credit to the strategy aimed at giving the business a more global presence.

He said the strategy, which had steadily evolved over the past three years, had delivered strong revenue flows.

What is more, Gonzalez said he saw no reason why the strategy would not continue to deliver for BTIM in circumstances where it had given the company presence in Asia, Europe and the US.

"It was a range of different things which drove the result last financial year, particularly the US," he said. "And it's likely to be other factors which drive returns in the current financial year," he said.

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In the official statement issued with BTIM's full-year results, Gonzalez said fund flows had been driven by ongoing demand for the company's offshore equity funds, domestic fixed income strategic and the success of its new products.

"Pleasingly, our range of equity funds in the US saw excellent growth and attracted $3.3 billion in net inflows contributing to another year of strong growth in base management fees," he said.

But the reasons for BTIM's result and the importance of its globalised approach was indicated by its funds, which had significantly outperformed their benchmarks over the 12 months to 30 September.

These included:

• The BT Wholesale Microcap Opportunities Fund (27.5 per cent);
• The JOHCM Asia Ex-Japan Small and Mid-Cap Fund (24.5 per cent);
• The BT Wholesale Smaller Companies Fund (13.3 per cent);
• The JOHCM Global Opportunities Fund (12.2 per cent);
• The JOHCM Asia ex-Japan Fund (10.6 per cent); and
• The JOHCM Global Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund (8.6 per cent).

Reflecting on these performances, Gonzalez said the strategy to build out the business into a truly global and diversified asset management business had delivered excellent results.

He said BTIM's focus would remain on delivering investment performance and identifying investment talent to provide for future growth.

Hardly surprisingly, Gonzalez said BTIM would also be investing in global distribution channels to better leverage its investment capabilities.