Select Asset Management has announced the appointment of a boutique consultancy business, Orchard Harbour, to focus on its operational due diligence.
Select chief, Andrew Fairweather, said previous to the appointment of Orchard, the company had focused on due diligence internally.
“Getting an external body whose sole purpose in life is [operational due diligence] was a lot more robust, than expecting our investment mangers to do all the operational due diligence and investment management selection,” he added.
Orchard Harbour, headed by Alex Wise, will work alongside Select to identify and assess the operational risks of existing and potential new managers that may be included in Select’s multi-manager portfolio solutions.
The company had also reported that Select Growth Portfolio and Select Defensive Portfolio had finished the 2010 financial year with stronger returns than those of their peers, which included Colonial First State Wholesale High Growth Fund and ING Wholesale High Growth Trust.
Fairweather said there are a number of factors contributing to the success, including flexible asset allocation and use of alternatives.
