Active exchange traded funds (ETFs) and an expansion of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) range are on the cards for Perpetual in FY22.
Announcing its FY21 results to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the firm said its key focus was FY22 regarding Perpetual Asset Management Australia was to “deliver contemporary investment solutions in Active ETFs, ESG development and add new strategies”.
It added it was “well positioned to take advantage of key global growth trends in ESG and value investing” having benefitted from the shift from growth to value this year.
Rob Adams, chief executive, said: “Our Australian equity team remained focused on their value approach, benefitting from the shift towards value stocks that occurred during the year. Our credit and fixed income funds delivered another strong year of performance, as did our multi-asset and global innovation teams”.
The value-focused Perpetual Pure Value Share fund had returned 41.6% during the financial year, according to FE Analytics, compared to 28.5% by the wider Australian equity sector within the Australian Core Strategies universe.
Another area of focus was ESG as the firm had acquired ESG-focused boutique Trillium Asset Management during the year and launched two strategies for Australian investors.
“During the year, we launched two new Trillium-branded ESG strategies for the Australian market and the multi-asset Perpetual ESG Real Return fund, all of which have attracted interest from clients. Our new product pipeline for FY22 is exciting and we will build on this momentum,” Adams said.
Total revenue for Perpetual Asset Management Australia was $165 million, down 5%, while assets under management rose 8% to $24.7 billion driven by positive investment markets and alpha generation.
However, the firm continued to see net outflows of $2.8 billion which Adams said was “disappointing”.
Total performance fees were $18.1 million, up from $3.1 million in FY20 which represented a 477% increase.
