Simon Doyle

Schroders Australia (SIMAL) has appointed Simon Doyle as chief executive officer, alongside his ongoing role of chief investment officer, a position he has held since February 2022.

This is part of an important and future-focused evolution of the Australian business, reinforcing Schroders’ commitment to being investment-first and insight-led. Schroders recognises the critical importance and value of our investment proposition to clients and the need to tailor our capabilities to help solve their specific needs.

Simon succeeds Sam Hallinan who has led the Australian business since April 2021 through a period of significant industry change and societal disruption. We are grateful for the contribution Sam made to Schroders during this period and he leaves with our best wishes.

Simon is a deeply experienced investor with over 20 years of experience at Schroders alone, having joined the business in 2003. During his tenure Simon has successfully developed and managed our Fixed Income, Multi-Asset, and Private Debt teams. Simon will continue in his investment role as CIO alongside a deeply experienced team of investment professionals who lead our locally-manufactured capabilities, including Australian equities under Martin Conlon and Andrew Fleming, fixed income under Stuart Dear and Kellie Wood and private debt under Nicole Kidd.

In addition, we are announcing the promotion of Sebastian Mullins to the role of head of multi-asset. Sebastian has served as deputy head of multi-asset since February 2022, having joined Schroders in 2019. He has 12 years of multi-asset investing and will lead a team of deeply experienced investment professionals. Over time we expect to recruit additional talent into the multi-asset team.

Commenting on Simon’s appointment, Chris Durack, head of Schroders Asia Pacific, said, “Simon’s new dual CEO and CIO role reflects our ongoing commitment to helping solve for our clients by being an investment-first and insight-led business in Australia, and allows for further direct engagement on investment solutions with our clients, the needs of whom are becoming increasingly complex. Simon is highly regarded internally both locally and globally across the Schroders business and is well-known within the market and amongst our clients.”

Peter Harrison, global chief executive officer for Schroders, said: “These leadership changes signify our unwavering commitment to providing exceptional investment solutions tailored to our clients’ specific needs. Under Simon’s leadership, and with an investment-led approach supported by our locally-based investment teams, we are confident in our ability to continue delivering outstanding results for our clients.”

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Amanda Irving

Schroders has announced senior leadership appointments in its Asia Pacific business as the Group continues to deliver on its ambitious growth strategy across Asia Pacific.

After more than 17 years with Schroders, Susan Soh, CEO of Schroders Asia Pacific, will retire from the firm at the end of this year. Susan leaves with a long track record of success in the key roles she has held, including a very strong period of business growth as CEO of Schroders Singapore and South-East Asia. Susan is a recognised leader in the industry, holding a number of public positions including Chairman of the Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS). She is also a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF). Susan will remain in a part-time Senior Advisor role at Schroders.

Succeeding Susan in the role as CEO of Schroders Asia Pacific is Chris Durack, who re-joins Schroders. Chris previously spent 10 years at Schroders in various leadership roles including CEO of Schroders Hong Kong, CEO of Schroders Australia and most recently, as Co-Head of Asia Pacific. Chris will assume the role from January 2023 and will be based in Singapore.

After four years driving growth in the Hong Kong business and contributing to the APAC Distribution initiatives, Amy Cho, CEO of Schroders Hong Kong and Deputy Head of Asia Pacific, has decided to pursue her aspirations and personal interests outside the company. Amy will transition her responsibilities from early January 2023.

Gopi Mirchandani, currently CEO and Head of Client Group Asia at NN Investment Partners (NNIP), will join Schroders and will be appointed as CEO of Schroders Hong Kong, reporting to Chris Durack and based in Hong Kong, with effect from mid-January 2023. Additionally, Gopi will take on the newly created role of Head of Strategy, Asia Pacific, where she will work with the leadership team to identify new business opportunities and partnerships to accelerate growth across the region. A lawyer by training, Gopi held senior legal and compliance roles in Monetary Authority of Singapore, Deutsche Asset Management and Fullerton Fund Management prior to taking on broader business roles.

Szu Yi Chin was appointed to a newly created role of Head of Distribution, Asia Pacific on 1 October 2022. Based in Singapore, she will work closely with our distribution, product and marketing teams in the region to drive the sales agenda and help fulfil our ambition to be our clients’ trusted advisor. Szu Yi was previously with Schroders for 12 years where she was responsible for the Mutual Funds business in Singapore and Malaysia. She spent the past eight years with Fidelity International where her last position was Chair and Head of Taiwan.

Amanda Irving, currently Head of Marketing for Australia, has been appointed Head of Marketing, APAC, with effect from 1 November 2022. Currently based in Sydney, Amanda will relocate to Singapore in January 2023. She replaces Michelle Han who has moved to London to take up the role of Global Head of Growth and Digital Marketing. Amanda has 20 years of financial services marketing experience and was Marketing Director at BT Financial Group prior to joining Schroders.

Peter Harrison, Group Chief Executive, Schroders, commented: “The Asia Pacific region is a key part of Schroders’ growth strategy, and we are proud to have a line-up of strong senior leaders in the region to sustain our business momentum. We have been fortunate to have a leader of Susan Soh’s calibre for the past 17 years, and whilst Susan will remain as a Senior Advisor to our business, we wish her well in her retirement from executive responsibilities. I am pleased to welcome Chris Durack back to the Schroders family. With a decade long tenure at Schroders and a wealth of industry knowledge, Chris is ideally placed to lead the Asia Pacific region and ensure the ongoing success of our business.”

Lieven Debruyne, Global Head of Distribution, Schroders, commented: “With the appointment of Chris Durack and the strength of his leadership team in the Asia Pacific region, I am confident we will continue to deliver leading global and local investment solutions to our clients across the region. To help drive our strategy forward, Schroders warmly welcomes Gopi Mirchandani and Szu Yi Chin to our business and Amanda Irving to Singapore. We thank Amy Cho for leading a successful business in Hong Kong over the last four years, amidst the incredibly challenging environment and market conditions, and broader contributions to the region in her Deputy Head role. We wish her the best in her new pursuits.”

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In April 2020, Susan Soh and Chris Durack were appointed as Co-Heads of Asia Pacific. Chris has decided to leave Schroders due to a change in family health circumstances which prevents a planned relocation to Asia to continue his APAC leadership responsibilities. Chris will remain with Schroders until the end of October to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities.

Lieven Debruyne, Global Head of Distribution, said: “Chris has driven a strong focus on client outcomes through the development of business and people strategy. We continue to see growth opportunities and progress in the APAC region. With a complete leadership team in place, Susan is well placed to assume full responsibility for the region and take the business to the next stage of growth. I would like to thank Chris for his significant contributions to the business and wish him all the best for the future.”

Peter Harrison, Schroders Group CEO, commented: “Chris leaves Schroders with a track record of success in the roles he has held over the last decade. As Co-head of Asia Pacific, his focus on collaboration and greater inclusion across the leadership teams in the region has helped to ensure cultural and strategic settings for the ongoing success of our business and our clients.”

Chris Durack said: “During my decade long tenure at Schroders, I have had the privilege of working with and learning from great colleagues and clients for which I am hugely grateful. Schroders remains extremely well positioned to capture growth opportunities and I wish the business every success for the future.”

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Chris Durack

Investors won’t be able to rely on investment strategies that have worked to generate their income and returns over the past decade. With traditional fixed income investments now yielding close to zero, investors are forced to move further along the risk curve to generate returns, which in turn has become very challenging for their risk appetites.

On day two of Schroders’ flagship investment conference for clients in the Asia Pacific region, Chris Durack, Co-Head Asia Pacific, Schroders, led a panel of investment professionals that discussed what portfolio construction might look like going forward and the different levers investors can pull in #TheZero environment, including investing in private markets, looking deeper into fast growing and changing sectors such as energy transition and healthcare innovation, and looking at opportunities in emerging markets such as China.

With the traditional 60/40 investment portfolio strategy now creating more questions than answers, how can investors structure portfolios to achieve a balance between growth and safety in the current environment?

Simon Doyle, Head of Fixed Income & Multi-Asset Australia, Schroders, commented: “What we are seeing now is a significant degree of innovation in the way multi-asset portfolios are constructed, which includes adding a broader range of assets such as private assets and looking broader and deeper into credit markets.

“For instance, fixed income as an asset class is incredibly broad, from sovereign bonds through to credit, investment grade credit through to lower quality companies, through into private markets, through into different forms of commercial lending. Investors should utilise that breadth and go deeper to find pockets of value. None of these by themselves is the solution but looking at a number of them as part of a solution for portfolios can be quite powerful in generating returns and income.”

Julie Koo, Managing Director, Head of Citi Investment Management Sales, Asia Pacific, commented: “We came into the start of this year really advising our clients to think about the challenges in traditional fixed income markets and encouraging them to think about other sources of income including equity dividends and alternatives. China is one area to think about. The country is a US$15 trillion bond market and second largest in the world, and it accounts for 50% of bonds globally that are yielding more than 2.5%. With the opening of the Bond Connect programme and the inclusion of China bonds into some of the global indices in recent years, we have seen more international investors finding their way to that market. In 2020, we saw about US$200 billion flow into China’s bond market, and we expect this to continue to grow. China’s bond market is definitely too big to ignore.”

Mike Nikou, Global Partner, Antler, commented: “We’re seeing investors allocating a larger portion of their portfolio to non-traditional asset classes, and I think that will continue in the foreseeable future. For example, about five years ago, US$30 billion worth of assets was flowing into venture capital funds, and that has almost tripled in the last three to four years. This is a strong indication that investors are not only talking about private assets, but they are executing on that strategy.

“What is important with private assets is that investors can access some of the most innovative technology companies that are being built today at good valuation, and that is because companies are staying private for much longer. What is interesting is that 20 years ago, there were 7,000 listed companies in the US and that number now is less than 4,500. That’s almost a 40% reduction of listed companies. So if investors want to get access to a certain sector or a certain type of company, they will most likely need to allocate to private assets.”

“However, I do think it is important for investors to conduct due diligence and screening before taking a decision on private assets, because, for instance, the dispersion of returns between the first quartile and fourth quartile can be huge. Selecting the right fund managers to manage this part of the asset class can help investors achieve the illiquidity premium on private market investments.”

Simon Doyle added: “There are opportunities in private markets from both a growth perspective and an income perspective. One of the key questions to ask is what is your tolerance for illiquidity, and the other is what do you want that exposure in private markets to do – is it to generate returns or is if for income? There is a cost to every benefit that you get through these markets, but clearly, part of a well-diversified portfolio is a well thought through exposure to private markets.”

Julie Koo said: “The return potential from private markets is out there, but finding that potential can be tricky for individual investors. The principle of getting the full benefit of private markets is really making that allocation and staying invested. That is why we spend a lot of time guiding our clients through this process, helping them build access to private markets to achieve the returns they are looking for.”

Looking at investment opportunities in the years to come, all panellists agreed that thematics are a core investment focus.

Julie Koo commented: “We see several key themes offering growth opportunities for investors. One is around digitisation, and we’re getting more fine-tuned about it and thinking through what is going to drive the next leg of growth for technology, which we believe is data. With the roll out of 5G, there will be even more data out there that needs to be housed and stored. Another theme is energy transition, and we expect more private companies will be looking at ways that they can transform their own businesses to contribute to government’s net zero targets.”

Simon Doyle added: “A key area to look at is the wider industry sectors that will benefit from disruptive trends or technologies, rather than the companies that are causing them. For example, in the 1800 gold rush in Australia, more money was made from selling shovels and picks rather than the actual digging for gold. However, investors need to be mindful that a lot of the growth sectors already have optimistic future growth priced in, and many of these companies will need to grow into their valuations.”

Mike Nikou added: “That is why we believe now is a good time for investors to allocate portions of their portfolio to venture capital. Some of today’s tech startups could be global giants of tomorrow. By investing in venture funds, investors can get access to private companies that are in early growth stage where valuations are low, as well as access to some of the pre-IPO growth stories. From a portfolio construction perspective, venture capital is a good diversifier as it has a relatively low correlation to public markets.”

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Chris Durack

Schroders has announced its intention to acquire a 50.1% ownership stake in commercial real estate lending specialists RF Eclipse Limited – a leading alternative lender to small to medium sized enterprises in the real estate market. The business specialises in investment, development and construction financing across residential, commercial, retail and industrial properties.

RF Eclipse was established in 1999 and operates as an integrated platform with capability across loan origination, loan management and funds management. It is currently wholly owned by the RF Group, the family office of Andrew Roberts, former majority shareholder of Multiplex property group. Under this agreement, the RF Group will retain 49.9% ownership and both Schroders and RF Group will have equal board representation and control

Following completion of the transaction, RF Eclipse will be renamed ‘Schroder RF’ recognising the complementary capabilities that both parent organisations bring to clients through the joint venture.

Schroder RF will provide Australian investors, including private wealth and family office clients, with broader access to private real estate debt markets.

Chris Durack, Co-CEO for Schroders Asia Pacific, said: ‘The opportunity to combine Schroders’ institutional strength in asset management with the deep real estate pedigree and strong knowledge of the family office market demonstrated by RF Group is incredibly powerful.

‘The joint venture will enable us to offer new debt solutions to a wider client set, with Schroder RF playing an important role in accelerating Schroders’ private assets strategy in Australia. Its standalone structure facilitates a specialised focus in real estate, allowing the Schroders team to remain focused on managing and growing our existing business.

Partnering with Schroders represents an opportunity for the RF Group to access global scale and resources as well as deep local investment expertise.

RF Eclipse currently manages approximately $300 million in assets including assets for the Schroder Real Estate Debt Fund for which it has run an investment mandate since November 2019.

RF Capital Principal Andrew Roberts commented: ‘Schroder RF represents a key strategic opportunity for our group. With mutually complementary strengths and a clear and aligned strategy, there is a strong foundation for success and growth.’

The transaction is expected to complete around 30 June 2021.

Schroders private assets business manages over $85 billion^[1] in assets globally. The business offers a diversified range of investment strategies, including private equity, credit, real estate, infrastructure, insurance-linked securities and impact investing.

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[1] As at 31 December 2020, including committed capital not yet deployed.

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Sam Hallinan

Schroders has announced that Sam Hallinan will join as CEO, Australia in April. He will report to Chris Durack, co-CEO APAC, who will continue to have oversight of the Australian business as part of his regional responsibilities and remain a director of Schroders Australia.

Sam joins from Nikko Asset Management where, since 2015, he was managing director of the Australian business. Sam brings over 25 years’ experience in financial services with significant leadership roles in the Australian asset management industry.

Sam’s appointment provides a dedicated, focussed oversight of the Australian business as it invests in strengthening existing capabilities in Australian equities, multi-asset, fixed income and global equities, while extending its capabilities including the local build-out of its private debt team and tailored client solutions.

Lieven Debruyne, global head of distribution, said: “With the appointment of Sam, we continue to demonstrate our investment in the quality of our management team. At the same time, through Chris’ leadership we are continuing to drive our priorities in the region supporting the development of our investment capabilities for our clients.”

Chris Durack, co-CEO Asia Pacific said: “We are thrilled to welcome Sam to our team and his appointment highlights our focus and commitment to the ongoing investment in the Australian business. Sam’s experience and proven leadership will add further depth to our management capability as we remain focused on delivering great investment outcomes for our Australian clients.”

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Chris Durack

In an environment where company valuations have become distorted, interest rates remain low and volatility in listed markets is high, private assets will play an increasingly valuable role in helping investors meet their objectives over the longer term, according to Schroders Australia country head, Chris Durack.

“Investors are seeking new opportunities to achieve their objectives and to diversify their portfolios across uncorrelated investments in traditional listed equity and fixed income markets.  In this environment, high quality, sustainable, unlisted assets play a useful role in portfolio construction, allowing investors to access the full breadth of investment opportunities in the market in order to achieve their longer-term objectives,” Mr Durack says.

“Private assets are relatively new to the Australian market for retail investors. But we know from the latest Schroders Global Investor Study that the majority of investors (67 per cent) are willing to hold investments for at least seven years if they can offer a potentially higher return and private assets fit this criteria.

“As an alternative source of return, private assets can help to diversify investment portfolios and can offer a revenue stream or potential capital growth to help meet long-term goals.”

Claire Smith, alternatives director, says company and market dynamics are also shifting which is creating opportunities.

“The number of public companies listed on Western exchanges continues to decline and investors globally are following suit, increasing their allocations to private markets. As private equity transactions price off fundamentals, and with less capital in the market at present, we’re currently seeing very sensibly priced opportunities.

“Private equity can deliver higher long-term returns, offer access to companies that are diverse in stage and size, and deliver portfolio diversification due to its unique investment universe, valuation methodologies and low correlation to listed markets.

“Traditionally, private equity investments were not easily accessible to a broad range of investors due to their large investment minimums, the requirement to meet periodic and irregular calls for capital, longer investment horizons and low liquidity. However, this is changing with new product solutions coming into the market.

“In the wake of COVID-19, private equity market valuations are currently lower than have been seen in recent years, which makes it potentially an attractive time to invest.

“The small to medium private equity market offers strong opportunity for growth in the current environment. We particularly like non-cyclical companies, such as healthcare, technology and other essential services which have performed strongly during the pandemic.”

Additionally, Nicole Kidd, head of private debt, points to the dislocation in the Australian loan market, with the banks – which have traditionally dominated the lending space – reconsidering their risk appetite in certain parts of the market, creating a shift in the supply/demand equation between lenders and borrowers.

“There is a growing need for institutional capital to fill the void and we are seeing a greater volume of opportunities structured with institutions in mind. Alongside this we have investors who need an income stream and are facing a market where dividends are depressed, and bonds are offering minimal returns. We see our role as bringing both investors and borrowers together, by providing access to well-structured loans, and returns with low or no correlation to listed markets” Ms Kidd says.

“The impetus to consider investing in private debt in 2020 has been driven by a search for higher yield, or duration, or a combination of both, but the market is complex and requires specialist experience.

“It’s an opportunity that has not gone unnoticed, with Schroders’ recent Institutional Investor Study finding that 28 per cent of investors globally plan to increase their allocation to private debt in the next three years. This indicates that investors value structurally defensive debt instruments in a private market setting that also allows for flexibility.

“Currently representing only 1 per cent of global private debt AUM at USD60 billion, the Australasian private debt market offers significant growth potential.

“The Australian private debt market is an important and emerging strategic opportunity for investors,  where credit-focused managers can help further drive the range and depth to capture valuable returns as the market continues to diversify away from the increasingly risk-averse bank sector,” Ms Kidd says.

“With a long history and deep experience in private assets globally, Schroders is investing in its local capabilities. We are committed to working with Australian investors to leverage private assets to help achieve their objectives,” Mr Durack concludes

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Chris Durack

Australian investors expect an annual return of 8.9% from their investments over the next five years, lower than global investor expectations of 10.9%, according to the latest Schroders Global Investor Study*.

These high expectations may be explained by the survey findings that 80% of people globally (and 75% in Australia) are still basing their predictions for future returns on past returns, with a decade of strong returns potentially inflating people’s expectations to unrealistic levels. For example the Schroder Strategic Growth Fund returned 8.2% p.a. (pre fees as at 31 July 2020) and the S&P / ASX200 index delivered 7.8% (as at 31 August 2020) over the last 10 years.

The Schroders Global Investor Study 2020 explores the behaviours and attitudes of more than 23,000 people who invest from 32 locations around the world, including Australia.

Unsurprisingly, survey respondents expect the COVID-19 pandemic to have a negative economic impact, and 66% believe the impact will be felt for the next six months to two years, while only 21% believe the impact will go beyond two years.

Geographically, investors in the Americas had the highest annual return expectations, at 13.2% on average, compared with 8.9% for investors in Australia and 9.4% for investors in Europe . Japan had the lowest return expectations at 6.0%.

A  majority of investors globally (62%), and even larger majority in Australia (75%), base their expected returns on current interest rates. This is unsurprising given the current lower for longer interest rates environment, however the expected return is still higher than such low interest rates would traditionally allow.

Globally, the most common sources for financial advice are banks (46%), independent financial advisers (42%) and investors’ own research (31%). This compares to Australia where the top three sources of financial advice are independent financial advisors (47%), followed by their own research (38%) and banks (30%).

Interestingly, millennials in Australia are significantly more likely to obtain financial advice from a bank (47%) or stockbroker (32%) compared to non-millennials – where 24% get advice from banks and 20% get advice from stockbrokers.

Looking to the year ahead, the challenges posed by COVID-19 and its associated economic impact means people are less likely to use their disposable income on lifestyle items. Expenditure on luxury items such as holidays and vehicles has also taken a hit (from 11% in 2017 versus 6% in 2020).

Interestingly, using disposable income to invest in general investments, deposit in a savings account and keep as cash at home also increased in priority, perhaps showing that people are preparing for a period of financial uncertainty.

COVID-19 has certainly made its mark on investment behaviour even if investors aren’t expecting it to impact their returns in the long term. When asked how they approached the period of stock market volatility in February and March of 2020, globally, a significant majority of people indicated they made changes to their portfolio. Over a quarter of people (28%) moved significant proportions of their portfolio to lower risk investments, while a fifth (20%) moved some of their portfolio to high-risk investments.

However, Australian investors were more likely than their global counterparts to stick to their original plans, with 34% sticking with their original plan and not making any changes to their investment portfolio during this period. Interestingly, women were more likely to not make any changes to their portfolio (38%) compared to men (31%).

Overall, the survey found Australian men have greater belief in their investment knowledge, with 44% describing their knowledge as expert/advanced compared to only 27% of women.

Chris Durack Schroders’ country head, Australia commented: “Australians’ return expectations have decreased from the unrealistically high level of 10.9% p.a. from the last survey. But overall, against a backdrop of market turbulence, expectations for income and returns are still high.

“With 80% of people around the world  still basing their predictions on the returns they have received in the past, the past decade of strong returns continues to potentially inflate people’s expectations to unrealistic levels.

“The next decade is set to deliver returns that likely don’t match the expectations of investors. People around the world stated that they want to have financial knowledge, but few have the confidence to say they are experts.  These are difficult times so more than ever, ensuring Australians have access to resources and advice to set realistic investment objectives and appropriate investment strategies will remain the key to success.

“There is an opportunity for the industry to take the initiative in addressing this demand for knowledge, and in reinforcing the importance and value of professional financial education and advice.”

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Ms Kidd joins from RBC where she was most recently Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking Australia and Institutional Client Management Asia-Pacific.

Chris Durack, CEO Australia, said: “A key strategic priority for the Schroders business is to continually develop and evolve its Australian investment teams and capabilities.

“The developing fixed income landscape provides us with an opportunity to invest in our private debt capability, and over time we aim to build solutions to provide our clients with greater access to these attractive markets.

“The bank debt market in Australia is becoming increasing disintermediated, providing opportunity for institutional investors to gain access to favourable risk-adjusted returns. This is a result of both increasing bank regulation (where traditional bank returns are more difficult to achieve with higher capital imposts), and desire for banks to hold lower concentrations of single asset exposures on their balance sheets than they previously were, meaning the door is open for so-called ‘non-traditional’ lenders.”

Ms Kidd brings 25 years of investment banking and asset management experience to the business which will be crucial for developing this new function in Australia.

The Schroders Australian private debt function will sit within the broader fixed income and multi-asset team reporting to Simon Doyle, Head of Fixed Income and Multi-Asset.

Simon Doyle commented: “Nicole brings a depth of experience in private debt to Schroders.  She is an investor of extremely high calibre and experience, and has a proven track record with a strong client focus.  These qualities will serve our clients well as she strives to deliver high quality outcomes for their portfolios.”

The appointment follows the move by Schroders in 2019 to appoint private asset specialist Georg Wunderlin to the role of Global Head of Private Assets. Reporting directly to Group Chief Executive, Peter Harrison, Mr Wunderlin oversees the continued growth and development of its private assets business on a global scale.

Ms Kidd will also have a reporting line into Mr Wunderlin, underscoring the importance of this appointment to Schroders globally.

Schroders’ Private Assets and Alternatives businesses manage A$81 billion* of AUM on behalf of its clients, with this capability including Private Equity, Securitised Credit, Infrastructure Finance, Insurance-Linked Securities, Impact Investing and Real Estate.

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*As at 30 June 2020.

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Chris Durack

Schroders has launched a private equity fund for Australian investors and has signalled its intent to offer more private asset solutions locally.

The Schroder Specialist Private Equity Fund (SSPEF) aims to provide a greater range of investors with access to the often hard-to-reach global private equity markets.

Chris Durack, Schroders Australia CEO, says the fund is designed to give Australian investors easier access to a professionally managed portfolio of private equity investments, an asset class that was previously often reserved for only the largest and most sophisticated investors.

“The SSPEF aims to provide investors with diversification away from listed equity markets with a particular focus on small-to-mid cap specialist opportunities in the US and Europe, as well as Asian growth companies.

“These companies, at smaller and earlier stages in their life cycle, are generally not accessible via listed markets. Additionally, this is an area where we see a particularly compelling risk/return trade-off for investors,” says Mr Durack.

The fund is semi-liquid, which means investors can access their money on a quarterly basis should they wish to – generally capped at 5% of net asset value per quarter.

“We believe this investment focus and fund liquidity, combined with clear and transparent pricing, set the fund apart from others available to Australian investors,” he says.

Mr Durack says Schroders is well placed to focus on private assets.

In 2017 Schroders acquired Adveq – a leading private equity firm headquartered in Switzerland. Adveq, now known as Schroder Adveq, has over 20 years of experience investing in private equity around the globe.

“Schroder Adveq’s pedigree in private equity coupled with Schroders’ 200 year heritage makes us ideally suited for investors looking for longer-term investment opportunities such as private equity.”

Schroders manages A$60 billion across a range of private asset classes including private equity, real estate, infrastructure, insurance-linked securities and private debt.

Mr Durack says the reasons to invest in private equity right now are particularly compelling.

“In a market where company valuations have become distorted, interest rates remain low and volatility in listed markets is more prevalent, we continue to look for ways that we can help investors meet their objectives over the longer term. As private equity transactions price off fundamentals, and with less capital in the market at present, we’re currently seeing very well priced opportunities. Now is an opportune time to invest in this asset class.

“We recognise that high quality, sustainable, unlisted assets play an important role in allowing investors to access the full breadth of investment opportunities in the market.  As such, Schroders has drawn upon both global and local investment capabilities in public and private markets to create a broader universe of investment solutions for investors.”

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