Watermark Funds Management has announced its withdrawal from global equities and said it would focus exclusively on the local share market as the firm failed to achieve the results for its investors that it had hoped, it said.
Following this, Watermark began a liquidation process for its international exposures and would focus on two core strategies in Australian shares, equity long/short and market neutral.
Watermark’s chief investment officer, Justin Braitling, reminded that the company first launched its plans to build a global equities capability four years ago however the process turned to have been a strain on its resources.
“While it has ultimately strengthened our investment process and afforded us a broader perspective on asset markets, it has been a strain on the resources in the business and we have not achieved the results for our investors that we had hoped,” he said.
Following the announcement, Watermark advised on a number of changes to its investment team which included hiring Daniel Broeren as a senior investment analyst in October, 2018, and appointing Harry Dudley as an investment analyst in November, 2018.
Alex Gurman also joined the ranks at the end of last year, and started his new role as a dealer. His appointment was aimed at bringing a stronger focus to this investment process and freeing up the research team to focus on fundamental research and idea generation.
Hamish Chalmers and Nick Cameron left Watermark to pursue other opportunities in global equities, the firm said.
“It was a difficult decision to close the book on our project in global equities, particularly given the calibre of investors that were able to attract to the business,” Braitling said.
“In hindsight, it was too ambitious of us to expect that we could be at the top of our game both in the local market and globally.”
