(L to R) Duke Lo, Sam Lecornu and John Lam.
Key points
- First year anniversary for former Macquarie team – The Stonehorn team met at Macquarie in 2008, co-founding the successful long-only Macquarie Asian Listed Equities business. At Macquarie, Sam Lecornu, Executive Director and Head of Investments, Duke Lo was Portfolio Manager and John Lam Senior Analyst, collectively managing up to $4bn in AUM.
- Benchmark-beating performance – Since inception, the Stonehorn Asia Equity all-cap fund has returned 18.6% net of fees to 31 July, beating the MSCI Asia ex-Japan benchmark by 497 basis points and the MSCI Asia ex-Japan Small Cap benchmark by 1,414 basis points.
- Success amidst rising tensions – Against the backdrop of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, Covid-19, rising US-China trade and geopolitical tensions, and deteriorating Australia and China relations, the fund has performed admirably.
- Raised significant assets under management (AUM) – In its first year, Stonehorn has amassed over $300m in assets under management from institutional and professional investors from Europe, Asia and Australia.
- Substantial pipeline – The fund has over $700m at advanced stages with institutional and professional investors around the world.
- Backed by Schwartz family – The Schwartz family office, Trawalla Capital, led by Alan and Carol Schwartz, is a cornerstone investor in Stonehorn.
- Growing Australian presence – Stonehorn has recruited Australian-based distribution veteran Jonathon Goll to launch the Stonehorn Asia Fund to Australian-based institutions (professional investors only), including industry super funds, wealth managers and high net worth professional investors.
- Experienced business builder – Goll has over 20 years’ experience in the global finance industry, with roles encompassing asset consulting, funds research and rating. Most recently, he was Director of Institutional Business for Bank of Montreal (BMO), based in Sydney.
Sam Lecornu (Co-founder and CEO) states “From a western perspective, there is low trust in China’s government, negative perceptions of Chinese attitudes towards corporate governance, poorly understood social and environmental obligations and questions over market access.
“It is this complex geopolitical environment combined with the industrialisation of the most populous nation on earth that forms the essence of the Stonehorn pitch: to be the western investor’s eyes and ears on the ground in Asia, navigating the complexity with a steady hand whilst taking advantage of the enormous opportunities with a keen yet discerning eye.
Lecornu admits that investing in places like China and India entails risks that simply don’t arise in the west. This explains why many western investors remain sceptical of the “China model”. The Stonehorn team, having run Macquarie’s Asia long-only Asian business during the global financial crisis, developing an impressive track record along the way, have no such qualms.
Says Goll, “having worked in Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and the U.S., I’m looking forward to helping Australian-based investors develop a better appreciation of the kinds of new economy opportunities in Asia that you just don’t get in the west, and usually not at the same prices. It’s very exciting.”