NEWS
First State scoops first Americas listed infrastructure institutional mandate
16 January 2013
Category:
News, Australia, USA, Canada
By Asia Asset Management
First State Investments has been appointed for inclusion on Russell Investments’ global listed infrastructure multi-manager platform and secured mandates of more than US$500 million across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Russell Investments is a global asset manager and provider of actively managed multi-asset portfolios and services that include advice, investments and implementation.
James Twiss, managing director Americas, said this is the team's first North American win and recognises the consistent outperformance of the Colonial First State Global Asset Management Global Listed Infrastructure Fund following the launch of this investment strategy five years ago.
“We are delighted to have won such a significant mandate from Russell Investments. This follows extensive due diligence by Russell’s manager research team over the past 18 months. It has been a true team effort and puts us in a strong position to build our presence in the Americas as well as to grow our listed-infrastructure business in 2013.
“Since June 2011 we have held Russell’s highest rating for our Global Listed Infrastructure Fund. The strength of our capability, highly experienced team and rigour of our security-selection process played a key role in Russell’s decision to appoint us.
“This is the largest win in North America since the opening of our New York office in August 2011, and is the first win for Colonial First State Asset Management (Australia) Limited since obtaining its SEC licence in January 2012,” said Mr. Twiss.
Head of Global Listed Infrastructure, Peter Meany said since the launch of the fund in 2007, markets have been impacted by periods of volatility and uncertainty.
“This has presented a unique opportunity for our team to highlight the defensive nature of this asset class, our skills as active managers and disciplined investment process.
“The outlook for global listed infrastructure remains positive. The sector offers structural growth, real income and lower volatility. Our fund has seen increasing demand from investors wanting to move cash back into equity markets without adding significant risk,” said Mr. Meany.
Since its launch in 2007, the fund has outperformed its benchmark by 19% and surpassed the MSCI World Index by 28%. First State Investments manages over US$2 billion in the asset class today, having more than doubled funds under management in the last 18 months.
The fund aims to provide investors with a mix of strong capital growth and inflation-protected income by investing in a globally diversified portfolio of infrastructure securities. Assets that can deliver these outcomes include roads, airports, ports, rail, utilities, energy pipelines and storage, communication towers and satellites.
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