Regal Partners is the latest Australian fund manager to explore overseas opportunities, looking to North America for future organic growth.
In its annual general meeting on 29 May, Regal chief executive Brendan O’Connor provided an insight into Regal’s future plans.
Regal offers a range of alternative strategies covering long/short equities, private markets, real and natural assets and credit and royalties across eight fund management businesses, including PM Capital, Merricks Capital and Kilter Rural.
Funds under management (FUM) are $16.5 billion as of the end of March 2025 and net flows during the March quarter were $149 million, having recorded $1.9 billion during the full year 2024.
The firm detailed how offshore clients contributed $600 million of net FUM flows in 2024, representing 30 per cent of total net flows. This means offshore clients represent $3.3 billion, some 20 per cent of total FUM.
Offshore clients have only been recently targeted by the firm, it said, with the firm appointing its first overseas distribution executive in Singapore in 2022. Since then, it has built up relationships in Asia and the Middle East, as well as launched Cayman or offshore versions of its key funds.
It was also helped by its acquisition of 50 per cent of Taurus Funds Management in late 2023, which brought in more than 20 institutional clients in North America. It is also recruiting a senior executive in North America to service these clients as well as seek new clients in the region.
“While we see plenty of runway for further organic growth within Australia, we are also very excited about the potential to further expand our offshore product set and client base,” O’Connor said.
“We are optimistic this could grow materially in the coming years based on our expanding product range and current due diligence discussions.”
Numerous fund managers including MA Financial and Pinnacle Investment Management have publicly stated they are looking to expand overseas in the near term.
Overall, Regal’s priorities for 2025 and beyond have a growth-focused strategy utilising a diversified and scaleable platform, attractive market tailwinds where investors are seeking alternative ways to generate returns, and strong business economics where Regal is able to generate higher fees relative to traditional long-only managers.
“This means we have multiple avenues for growth organically. We also continue to review inorganic opportunities while remaining disciplined on the price we are willing to pay. In the meantime, we will look to harness the full benefits from our past acquisitions.”
Last year, the firm considered potentially acquiring Platinum Asset Management but later backed out of the deal after due diligence found Platinum was losing FUM faster than expected. Platinum’s FUM has fallen from $13.7 billion in April 2024 to $9.6 billion a year later.
