Zurich Investments and Celeste Funds Management have announced a partnership to distribute Celeste’s Australian Small Companies Fund to the Australian market.
Celeste was selected following a search by Zurich for a smaller companies manager and said it liked the firm’s strong track record and dedicated investment team as well as its strong retail footprint.
Zurich also appointed the firm to take over the management of the existing Zurich Investments Small Companies Fund.
Matthew Drennan, head of savings and investment at Zurich, said: “Celeste Funds Management is a proven manager of Australian smaller companies and an excellent addition to the suite of Zurich Investments strategic partnerships.
“We are excited to welcome the Celeste team as our newest strategic partner managed by Frank Villante and Paul Biddle.”
Villante, chief investment officer at Celeste, said “The Celeste team looks forward to developing a mutually beneficial strategic partnership with Zurich Investments. We believe we can deliver above benchmark returns, from the application of our investment process for the benefit of the client base.”
The Celeste Australian Small Companies Fund returned 6.2 per cent over one year to 31 July, 2019, according to FE Analytics, versus returns of 5.8 per cent by the ACS Equity- Australian Small and Mid Cap sector.
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