Mr. Alexander said the elevation of Mr. Clout, who has headed portfolio implementation and client relationships at Ardea, would enable him and the rest of the investment team to maintain their full focus on investing, without being distracted by business management.

“A key reason for Ardea’s success has been the ability of our investment team to put all our energy and expertise into our differentiated, relative-value approach to fixed income investing. This has enabled us to deliver reliable risk-adjusted returns that are independent of market direction and have minimal correlation to broader fixed income and equity markets. The need for this focus was also one of the key reasons we originally teamed up with Fidante Partners to manage operations, and distribution on our behalf.”

Founded in 2008, Ardea has maintained steady growth, with funds under management exceeding $11 billion at the end of February 2019 and an investor base including Australia’s largest institutional investors.

More recently, Ardea’s top performing Real Outcome strategy has been rolled out to the wholesale/retail market as the unlisted unit trust Ardea Real Outcome Fund (ARO), as well as the ASX listed ActiveX Ardea Real Outcome Bond Fund (Managed Fund) (ASX: XARO), launched in partnership with Fidante Partners at the end of 2018.

“We are grateful for the strong support we’ve received from our clients, as well as asset consultants, and are now evolving our business structure so that we can both continue to provide a high level of service to existing clients and manage growth in a considered and measured way well into the future”, Mr. Alexander added.

Mr Alexander said the Ardea board was confident that Mr Clout would provide the firm with the operational and strategic leadership needed to manage its next stage of growth.

“Stephen knows our business well, having helped found it more than 10 years ago. He also has deep, extensive relationships with our clients and is already very well-known and respected by the team.”

Mr. Clout, who will continue to have ultimate oversight of portfolio implementation, will be supported in this function by Chief Operating Officer Tracey Kellett, who joined Ardea from Fidante’s parent company (Challenger Limited) in February this year. Additionally, Ardea’s investment team was strengthened last year with the hire of relative value specialist and Portfolio Manager Jean Dumas from Deutsche Bank, while it’s dealing capacity was increased with the appointment of Darren Wadhera to the Portfolio Implementation team.

Ardea’s unique relative value investment approach now has a successful ten year track record across a range of actively managed domestic and global fixed income investment strategies, including absolute return, benchmark aware and customised objective based solutions.

ARO is the top performing absolute return fixed income strategy in the Mercer Survey of Australian Absolute Return funds over three and five years, as at the end of February 2019*.

Notably, ARO maintained strong performance throughout the difficult market conditions of 2018 and now has a six-year track record of delivering low volatility returns exceeding cash rates and CPI, independent of market direction. ARO has delivered a return of 5.02% p.a. (net of fees) over the past three years, which is 3.19% p.a. above the Benchmark**.

* From 28 February 2014 to 28 February 2019. Source: MercerInsight ®, Mercer Investment Performance Survey of Australian Absolute Return universe.
** As at 28 February 2019. Performance figures are calculated after fees have been deducted and assume distributions have been reinvested. No allowance is made for tax when calculating these figures. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. ARO’s benchmark is the Australian Consumer Price Index.

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Ardea has appointed globally experienced relative value expert Jean Dumas as Portfolio Manager within the Investment Strategy Team and broadened its risk management and trading capabilities with the appointment of Darren Wadhera in the Portfolio Implementation Team.

Jean Dumas joins Ardea from Deutsche Bank where he spent 10 years in senior fixed income research roles in Australia and Europe, including head of relative value research for Europe in London. He subsequently spent 13 years in fixed income trading positions in London and Sydney with Deutsche Bank, focusing on global volatility and interest rate derivative markets.

At Ardea Jean will generate investment ideas, adding to the depth and breadth of relative value experience in Ardea’s highly regarded team, particularly due to his expertise in global markets.

Darren Wadhera has 21 years of global fixed income experience from his time working at large global and domestic financial institutions. Most of this time was focused on trading global fixed income derivatives at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, prior to which he was a fixed income analyst at ANZ Capital Markets. Additionally, with an actuarial background, his strong quantitative skills complement Ardea’s proprietary relative value capabilities.

Ardea principal and co-founder Ben Alexander welcomed both additions who, he said, would strengthen Ardea in key areas after a period of growth and help ensure it continued to deliver superior client outcomes. “These appointments represent an investment in both our alpha generating capability, especially in relative value investing, as well as in our capacity to manage risk positions and trade efficiently, a fundamental part of our business”.

“Jean and Darren give us more bandwidth and depth of experience. They are a great fit for us both culturally and in terms of our rigorous investment approach,” Mr Alexander said.

Ardea has a successful track record of actively managing a range of domestic and global fixed income strategies, including absolute return, benchmark aware and objective based solutions. The firm is an active investor across Australian and global government bonds, fixed income derivatives and credit markets.

Ardea’s flagship Real Outcome Fund is the top performing absolute return fund in the Mercer Survey of Australian Absolute Return funds over the year to 30 June 2018*^. The fund now has a six-year track record delivering low volatility returns exceeding cash and CPI. The Fund’s relative value investment approach does not rely on conventional return sources such as credit or duration, which are now generally faced with less return for more risk.

The appointments now follow a period of consistent investment outperformance and strong fund inflows from institutional investors, and increasingly, retail investors. As at 30 June 2018, Ardea’s funds under management exceeded the $10 billion mark.

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