Lennox was established in March this year by James Dougherty and Liam Donohue, who are the majority owners, in conjunction with Fidante Partners, a boutique funds management business and division of Challenger Limited.

Prior to founding Lennox, Dougherty and Donohue were long-time portfolio managers of the Macquarie Australia Small Company and Micro-cap funds, which consistently delivered top quartile performance compared to peers.

In its rating report, Zenith said it had “a high regard for the senior members of the investment team given their experience and track record of out-performance” and noted Dougherty and Donohue’s working relationship reduced risks usually associated with a start-up investment boutique.

Dougherty said Lennox was delighted to receive such support from Zenith, especially as its Australian Small Companies Fund was only launched in May. “We have received a strong level of interest since the launch and with this rating hope to maintain that momentum,” he said.

The Lennox Australian Small Companies Fund provides investors with exposure to a high-quality portfolio of Australian smaller companies. Lennox employs a fundamental bottom-up research effort seeking to identify securities that have been mispriced by the market. The Fund aims to hold between 20 to 40 stocks.

The Zenith rating comes after the team recently hired lead analyst Olivia Bible from Moelis & Company, where she specialised in small to mid-sized companies with a consumer discretionary focus. Prior to this Olivia held analyst roles at J.P. Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

In the first four months since inception (1 May 2017) the Fund has delivered a total return of 9.36% (after fees) since inception compared to the Small Ordinaries benchmark that has returned 2.96%.

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