Swell launches retail trust, appoints CEO

High conviction global equities boutique, Swell Asset Management, has launched a retail trust and has appointed Stephen Poole as its chief executive.

The Swell Global Fund (SGF) was previously only accessible to wholesale investors, including high net wealth investors and family offices, with Perpetual as responsible entity and Mainstream Group as fund administrator.

SGF held a concentrated portfolio of around 15 companies and was based on the group’s absolute return strategy which surpassed over $100 million in funds under management.

Swell chief investment officer, Lachlan Hughes, said the decision to launch a retail fund after six years of exclusively managing wholesale investors’ money, was driven by increasing retail demand for an active strategy that did not hug the index.

Poole said: “Our aim is to make it easy for investors and advisers to access our capabilities. We want to facilitate choice and allow investors and advisers to choose how they invest with us, be that a wholesale fund, separately managed account or a retail trust”.