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”.
Recommended for you
Perpetual has appointed a new CEO for affiliate J O Hambro Capital Management, as it tries to stem outflows and refresh the brand.
Outflows of US$1.4 billion from its US equity funds have contributed to GQG Partners reporting its highest monthly outflows for 2025 in August.
Domestic equity managers are lagging the ASX 200 in the first half of the year, according to S&P, with almost three-quarters of Australian equity funds underperforming over the six-month period.
ETFs saw almost $5 billion of inflows during August, with international equities gaining double those of fixed income funds, as total assets close in on $300 billion.