Anthony Patterson

Perennial Partners (Perennial) and 4D Infrastructure Pty Ltd (4D) are pleased to announce that they have entered into binding agreements which will see 4D become part of Perennial Partners’ house of specialist investment teams. 4D will continue as the appointed manager of the 4D Global Infrastructure Fund (AUD Hedged and Unhedged versions), a global investment fund that invests in listed infrastructure companies across all four corners of the globe.

As part of this agreement, Perennial will become a shareholder in 4D. Chief Investment Officer, Sarah Shaw will continue to lead the business and all members of the investment team will retain their existing positions and roles in the management of the 4D funds.

The 4D Global Infrastructure Fund aims to identify quality listed global infrastructure securities that are trading below fair value and have sustainable, growing earnings and dividends. The (Unhedged) Fund was launched on 7 March 2016 and since inception, has generated an annualised return after fees and expenses of 9.81%, versus a benchmark return of 8.53%^[1] over the same period. The Hedged version was established on 1 August 2022 and has generated an annualised return after fees and expenses of 7.55%, versus a benchmark return of 9.08^[2] over the same period.

Perennial Partners manages approximately $8.5bn billion across its stable of specialist boutique investment managers , which include Perennial Private Investments (private to public markets), Daintree Capital (fixed income), Fairlight Asset Management (global small and mid-cap equities), Perennial Resources Funds (Australian and global resources), Perennial Smaller Companies (Australian small cap), Perennial Value (Australian equities), Ziller Funds Management (global growth), Balmoral Funds Management (microcap) and the Perennial Future of Healthcare Fund (global healthcare).

Anthony Patterson, Executive Director of Perennial Partners said: “We are delighted to welcome Sarah and her team to Perennial. The 4D business has carved out an impressive niche in the Australian investment landscape and they bring to our group an established investment capability that we are eager to promote and confident that we can grow.

“We want to reinforce to all existing 4D investors that all the necessary resources will be committed by Perennial to the management, distribution and governance of the 4D funds, ensuring that Sarah and her team can continue to identify and capture global infrastructure investment opportunities.”

“With Sarah and her colleagues joining the Perennial team, continuity of management and investment strategy is ensured, with the substantial resources of Perennial now to draw from.”

Sarah Shaw, 4D’s Chief Investment Officer, said Perennial is a highly regarded investment management partner and the support it provides to specialist investment teams will enable a smooth transition and present a deeper pool of resources for the 4D business to draw from in future.

“I’m really proud of the solid track record we’ve established over the past decade for the 4D Global Infrastructure Funds. We are excited to join Perennial Partners and look forward to taking our business to the next stage of its growth”, she said.

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Anthony Patterson

Perennial Partners has announced that its three specialist responsible investment funds – the Perennial Better Future Trust, the Perennial Better Future Active ETF and the Melior Australian Impact Fund – will close, with capital returned to investors through an orderly wind-up. Together the funds manage approximately $140 million, invested across small-mid cap (Better Future) and large cap (Melior) Australian and NZ listed companies.

Perennial Partners Executive Director, Anthony Patterson, said: “Sustainable investing in Australia has evolved considerably since we first established the Better Future Trust in 2018. Investors are increasingly accessing the market through their core strategies integrating ESG principles, rather than via standalone specialist products.”

“With responsible investment considerations now embedded across most of our specialist investment strategies, we do not expect these funds to reach the scale needed to deliver on their investment objectives over the longer term. We will now commence an orderly process of divesting the assets and returning capital to investors.”

“We are grateful for the mandate that investors charged us with, and we remain committed to ensuring their interests are protected and optimised through the wind-up process.” 

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Damien Cottier

Perennial Partners has announced the establishment of its next-generation sustainable investment business, Perennial Better Future Pty Ltd.

Perennial Better Future will develop and manage investment strategies that aim to generate strong, consistent returns while contributing to a better future.

The investment strategy includes the Perennial Better Future Trust, and the eInvest Better Future Fund (Managed Fund) (ASX:IMPQ). The business will also manage ESG initiatives across the Perennial group.

The new boutique investment firm will be led by Damian Cottier, Portfolio Manager, together with Emilie O’Neill, ESG and Equities Analyst, and George Whiting, who will head up the institutional and retail business development for the boutique. Perennial Partners’ broader distribution team and 15 investment analysts will provide additional support.

Anthony Patterson, Executive Director of Perennial Partners, said the Perennial Better Future business was born out of a passion for sustainable investment.

“The world of sustainable investment has made a 180-degree turn in the last 15 years. Today, an investment in a sustainable business contributing to a better future is far more likely to lead to better returns than investing in conventional businesses,” he said.

“Perennial Partners has developed a leading-edge capability in sustainable investment and this business has been four years in the making. It launches having proven its investment thesis that benchmark outperformance can be achieved by investing in companies that are contributing to the improvement of society.”

Since its inception in 2018, the Perennial Better Future Trust has returned 13.3% per annum. It has outperformed the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index by 6.2% per annum and the ASX 300 Accumulation Index by 5.6% per annum since inception to the end of March 2021.

The Perennial Better Future Trust is rated ‘Investment Grade’ by Lonsec and ‘Approved’ by Zenith. Zenith has also assigned the Trust a Responsible Investment Classification of ‘Impact’, its highest classification.

Damian Cottier said rather than merely choosing the most sustainable stocks within sectors, the strategy is predicated on finding companies that derive the majority of revenue from positive outcomes, with zero revenue from harmful activities.

“We are focused on finding innovative smaller Australian companies.  Many of the companies in the portfolio have entered into global markets and have significant growth potential – they are often disruptors in their chosen markets, improving health outcomes, increasing efficiency and reducing costs,” he said.

“We have been pleased to play a role in driving these positive outcomes further by participating in capital raises to support the growth of these companies.”

Cottier added that the launch of Perennial Better Future Pty Ltd provided a new opportunity for Australians to invest for ESG impact.

“With the help of the financial advice community, we look forward to bringing a means for everyday investors to contribute to a better future by investing in companies that are helping to solve some of society’s biggest challenges,” he concluded.

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John Murray

Leading boutique fund manager Perennial Value Management Limited (Perennial Value) has announced that its senior executives planned to acquire the remaining 42.4 percent economic interest in the business from IOOF Holdings (ASX: IFL).

Perennial Value is a specialist, active investment management firm. Established in 2000, Perennial Value invests $5.6 billion on behalf of institutional and retail clients through a suite of trust products and discrete portfolios.

John Murray, Managing Director of Perennial Value, said: “We’re delighted to announce our intention to acquire the remaining IOOF interest in our business. This represents a further significant alignment of interests between our staff and our clients, and is a strong vote of confidence in our continuing commitment to delivering investment excellence, fostering a specialist investment management culture, and building a successful and sustainable funds management business.”

Perennial’s investment products will continue to be offered through IOOF platforms as well as other leading platforms and wrap accounts.

Anthony Patterson, Executive Director of Perennial, said: “This transaction will see the positioning of the Perennial Group as a multi boutique investment firm. We currently operate six boutique investment businesses, three under the Perennial brand, large cap Perennial Value, Perennial Value Smaller Companies and the Perennial Solutions Group, and three boutique affiliates Daintree Capital, an absolute return fixed income business, Fairlight Asset Management, a Global Small Mid Cap specialist and eInvest a provider of active exchange traded managed funds”.

“Our focus for the immediate future is as always on delivering good outcomes for our investors, but with an eye to the longer term, “Patterson said.

“In recent years, we have had a strong focus on building actively-managed niche capabilities.  We recently closed our Micro caps Trust at $200m on the back of very strong performance (total net return of 97.4% since inception in February 2017) and investor demand and also completed a capital raising for our Perennial Private to Public Opportunities fund, a wholesale offer taken up predominantly by higher net worth and family office investors.

“A major focus of this fund is investing in well-managed, strongly growing unlisted companies. We are very optimistic about the prospects for both Daintree Capital and Fairlight, which are both run by top-shelf investment executives who are passionate in their aim of delivering strong returns for their investors. Our ongoing development of eInvest reflects our view of growing investor demand for actively-managed exchange traded funds.”

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Bruce, who has been with Perennial Value since its inception in 2000, has previously held several portfolio management positions, including as co-portfolio manager to company founder John Murray in Perennial Value’s Australian Share Trust.

Bruce is lead portfolio manager for Perennial Value’s Shares for Income Trust and its recently launched eInvest Income Generator Fund. In his new role, Bruce will be responsible for the management of all broader cap Australian equities portfolios within the Perennial Value business.

Andrew King also joins the Perennial Value team as Mid-Caps Portfolio Manager.

King was a Founder and Director of Investments at Melbourne-based equities investor Concise Asset Management and previously held roles at Paradice Investment Management and Investors Mutual. He will join Perennial Value in mid-July 2018 and will assume portfolio management and analytical responsibilities for the firm’s forthcoming dedicated mid-caps capability.

Additionally, Andrew Smith who joined Perennial Value in 2008, is Head of Small and Micro Companies and manages the firm’s Smaller Companies Trust and Microcap Opportunities Trust.

In the changes being announced today, Smith will take responsibility for co-ordination of the stock research effort across the Perennial group, co-ordinating its analyst and research team to ensure quality investment opportunities are identified and reflected in clients’ portfolios.

Finally, long-term Perennial Value employee Damian Cottier has been promoted to the role of Portfolio Manager in the firm’s broader cap portfolios. Cottier joined Perennial Value in 2002 and has held a number of roles across dealing, research co-ordination, analysis and most recently as Portfolio Manager within the firm’s micro caps capability. His new role will see him provide a key pivot point linking Perennial Value’s smaller and larger capitalisation businesses.

The changes form part of a strategic transitional process in the management of Perennial Value’s large cap Australian share portfolios, which will see Perennial Value Founder and Managing Director John Murray gradually step down from day-to-day management responsibilities for these portfolios.

The transition, which has been long planned by the business and is expected to occur in an orderly fashion over the next 12-18 months, will see Murray remain as Managing Director of Perennial Value and continue to contribute his insights and perspectives to the investment management team.

Perennial Value Director Anthony Patterson said the changes would provide further opportunity, responsibility and career advancement to the senior investment executives of the business.

“Perennial Value has been focussed on succession planning and building depth across our 16-member investment team for many years. In addition to addressing our succession plan for John, the Board is taking the opportunity to position Perennial Value for the future,” Patterson said.

“Perennial Value recognises that investors’ needs are evolving and that we must ensure we are well positioned to adapt, whilst meeting the core objective of our firm – to deliver outcomes that exceed our investors’ expectations.

“Our future, supported by the appointments announced today, sees us renew our commitment to being recognised as the leading value manager in the Australian market.”

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