Sequoia has acquired a 20 per cent stake in Euree Asset Management, a new firm headed by former Australian Football League (AFL) player James Hird as chief executive.
Announced on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today, this came with a cash consideration of $500,000 and a provision of services and goodwill for a further $500,000.
Euree, chaired by Alan Hall, would initially offer three multi-asset fund options.
Sequoia said: “[Euree] will initially offer three fund options aimed at supporting financial advisers who want to reduce the cost of advice by accessing a single fund that has the intellectual property and knowhow to select a range of investments under one umbrella across various asset classes to form either a balanced, growth or property-style fund.”
Sequoia investment manager Winston Sammut, a financial services veteran with over forty years of experience, would join Euree as a senior investment manager responsible for the funds dealing in domestic listed and direct property investments.
Additionally, three members of Sequoia’s subsidiary InterPrac – national compliance manager, Michael Butler; SMSF specialist Mark Phillips; and portfolio services lead Alex Edmonds – would support the Euree management team to launch a range of multi-asset funds to the advice market.
Underlying investments would be managed by Hird, Sammut, Edmonds, and a team of external investment consultants.
Hird, a prolific AFL player, had retired at the end of the 2007 AFL season. He mostly played for Essendon Football Club and went on to be coach of the team from 2010-2015. He was also a winner of the Brownlow Medal in 1996.
Earlier this year, Sequoia stated acquisitions and organic growth were important for the firm to reach scale in the services it provided.
“Sequoia said: “[Euree] will initially offer three fund options aimed at supporting financial advisers who want to reduce the cost of advice by accessing a single fund that has the intellectual property and knowhow to select a range of investments under one umbrella across various asset classes to form either a balanced, growth or property-style fund.”
Yeah, its called a multi-manager fund. Nice vertical integration BTW!