It follows the recent appointments of Jody Fitzgerald, Guy Sainsbury and Paul Ramsay to the team, which augments the support AUI provides its asset managers including its in-house property and mortgage fund businesses and its six joint venture partners – Acorn Capital, Altius Asset Management, Platypus Asset Management, Seres Asset Management, Wingate Asset Management, and Vianova Asset Management. 

Ms Hoare joins AUI from Frontier Advisors (formerly Frontier Investment Consulting) where she was responsible for providing investment advice to some of Australia’s major superannuation and other investment fund clients.  

Prior to this, she was a research fellow with the University of Melbourne, providing research support in the areas of governance and monetary policy, and health and labour economics.  Ms Hoare holds a master of commerce and economics from the University of Melbourne and a bachelor degree in arts, specialising in economics and German, from Trinity College in Dublin. 

Ms Dunn said that Ms Hoare’s significant experience in manager research and investment consulting adds another important skillset to the team and will assist AUI in achieving its growth ambitions.

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Shirley Bowles has joined Tyndall as senior manager, product strategy and development, and Steven Birkett has been appointed senior product manager. 

Ms Bowles responsibilities will include development of new products, as part of Tyndall AM’s plans to deliver new investment offerings to its clients.  She has seventeen years’ financial services experience in both Australia and South Africa, and was most recently with AMP Capital Investors as senior product manager in its client, product and marketing division.  Ms Bowles has also worked with BT Investment Management and Westpac Financial Services. 

She holds an MBA from the University of NSW and a bachelor of commerce from Wits University in Johannesburg. 

Mr Birkett will have responsibility for managing the current range of Tyndall AM products as well as helping to bring new products to the market. He joins Tyndall from Perpetual Investment Management where he was senior product manager.

He has also worked with State Street Global Advisers, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Gartmore Fund Managers in both product management and investment management roles in the UK, Saudi Arabia and Australia. 

He has an honours degree in economics and management studies from the University of Leeds and is a chartered alternative investment analyst.  His qualifications include the Investment Management Certificate by the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of the UK and the Investment Administration Qualification by the Securities & Investment Institute in the UK. 

Matt Russell, head of sales and marketing at Tyndall AM, said the appointments are an important part of the business’s overall growth strategy. 

“We believe that there is increasing demand for income-based funds of the kind that Tyndall is well-placed to offer through its equity, fixed income and alternative asset capabilities. 

“The appointments of Shirley and Steven are intended to ensure we have the skills and experience to develop the products that will meet this demand, and bring them quickly to market,” Mr Russell said.

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Founded in 2009, Swita Investment Management is a boutique investment manager that seeks to capture macro themes and gives investors exposure to international markets when they see value. 

CIO Andrew Switajewski said Swita was making strong traction in the market and the appointment would further enable the growth strategy of the Group. 

“In three years we have successfully established a business and raised assets from a number of investors. Our Fund is rated and is available on several platforms as well as being on a number of Dealer APL’s.” 

“I am delighted to announce Richard’s appointment to our business. His impressive depth of experience in both institutional and retail markets will position us for future growth and expansion.” 

Mr Borysiewicz was previously CEO of Credit Agricole Asset Management in Australia (renamed Amundi Asset Management in 2010). Before joining Credit Agricole in January 2007, he held a number of senior roles in the investment management industry including Sales and Marketing Director at Skandia, Executive Vice President at Principal GlobalInvestors/BT and Head of Institutional and Retail at Rothschild.

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The appointment strengthens Omega’s risk-focused asset management capabilities and adds further depth to the firm’s proprietary research and credit analysis.

Omega‘s joint Director of Investments, Andrew Gruskin welcomed Andrew Cleeland’s appointment. He said the firm’s core belief is that superior investment outcomes can be achieved through understanding and controlling investment risk.

“Andrew’s significant experience in the research field is invaluable and will further enhance our business and investment team on behalf of institutional clients.”

Andrew joins Omega with over six years financial markets experience, specialising in quantitative research and analysis, valuation modelling and system development. In his most recent role, Andrew was a Quantitative Analyst at Austock Securities for five years, where he built and managed the quantitative research and construction of research reports. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Econometrics.

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While many investors may be unhappy with poorly performing investment managers, without the guidance oftheir advisers, many will not know how they can make a difference to the way the fund is managed.

Denison was recently been approached by a group of investors, representing 9.2% of issued capital in the 360 Capital Industrial Fund, to take control of the Fund and eject the existing management team and Responsible Entity.

To hear the views of investors and discuss how it would manage the Fund, Denison recently a country-wide roadshow where they met with approximately 300 investors. 

Denison Funds Management CEO, Matthew Burrows, said that while the vast majority of those present at the roadshows wanted a change in management, many were unsure of how they should vote and what their rights were as investors.

“Most investors were concerned with the recent move by 360 to change the constitution of the Fund, which has been ruled as in breach of the Corporations Act.  They are also concerned that listing the fund at this time will have a serious, negative impact on the value of the Fund.  However, many investors said the information sent by 360 was confusing.  In particular, the proxy voting form is ambiguous in terms of the treatment of votes from abstaining investors.”

Mr Burrows said dialogue with advisers was crucial at times like this to ensure investors’ interests were protected.

“Advisers need to speak with their clients to help them decide what is the best course of action for their circumstances.   Too often in the finance industry we assume a level of engagement or knowledge from investors that they simply don’t have.  Most investors simply want a good return and their advisers can help them set the course to achieving that.”

According to a letter from the group of investors requesting the change, unitholders listed the dilution of  their investments, changes to the constitution and 360 Capital’s plan to list the Fund on the ASX as their major concerns. 

Legal proceedings undertaken in the Supreme Court of Victoria and resulting orders made on 31 July 2012, found constitutional changes made on 31 May 2012 and 5 July 2012 contravened investors’ rights and were ordered to be ineffective by The Honorable Justice Sifris. Additionally, the order restrained 360 Capital RE Limited from putting the special resolution to investors of 360 Capital Industrial Fund, as proposed in the Notice of Meeting dated 12 July2012.

Mr Burrows said should Denison be appointed managers of the Fund, they would:

• Immediately reduce management fees from 6% to 5.5% of the Fund’s gross rent and permanently remove the special exit mechanism fee.
• Reduce fund management and operational costs by leveraging existing operational efficiencies to improve net asset cash flows.
• Defer any capital raising to avoid heavy dilution of Members’ interests.
• Establish a liquidity facility specifically for those Members who require special consideration due to a valid, urgent need for liquidity by using our global relationships including Forum and its networks
• Seek Members’ approval for an extension of the Fund’s investment-term for three years.

Mr Burrows said this would allow Denison to execute a strategy aimed to stabilise and enhance the portfolio value.

“This will pave the way for the opportunity for liquidity in the future. By being measured in our process, we believe that we can retain and improve on Member value, which would be preferable to listing on the ASX in current market conditions.”

The unitholder meeting to vote on the proposed change of Responsible Entity will be held at 10.00am (AEST) on 17th September 2012 at Oaks on Collins, 480 Collins Street, Melbourne.

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“Indeed, there is increasing evidence that many investors are confused by what fixed interest really means. 

“Equating fixed interest with term deposits is not a balanced approach and, from a diversification point of view, is not much better than having no fixed interest investments at all,” Mr Bovingdon said. 

He said that fixed interest securities play a crucial defensive role in any well-balanced investment portfolio. 

“Fixed interest can provide predictable, regular income and act as a foil against the losses made on equity holdings during an economic downturn. 

“However, a poorly constructed defensive allocation will fail in meeting defensive and risk-management objectives in times of market turmoil, such as we have seen in recent years. 

“Investors need to do some research to educate themselves about fixed interest investments. 

“Advisers should encourage their clients to spend the same sort of time understanding fixed interest as they do equity markets, to ensure they have a basic knowledge of the range of products that make up the fixed interest sector and the benefits and risks associated with each. 

“Not all assets that have been labelled fixed income are ‘true to label’, and furthermore, not all bonds are made equal. 

“Advisers and their clients need to be aware that some are inherently much more risky than others, and others are just not fit for purpose if the objective is to create a safe, predictable source of income that also diversifies a portfolio’s equity risk,” he said. 

Mr Bovingdon said investors and advisers should appreciate the two desirable characteristics of fixed income in a portfolio. 

He said they provide:

• a predictable and regular source of income (the investor gets predetermined coupons plus the principal back at maturity, making cash flows predictable)
• portfolio diversification.

“The importance of defensive role of bonds cannot be underestimated for all investors, and for some, such as retirees, it is particularly critical. 

“In addition, the relative stability of bond returns not only reduces overall portfolio volatility, but also over the medium to long term, bonds are negatively correlated to equity prices which improves the risk return profile of the overall portfolio. 

“These are points that investors should understand about fixed income,” he said. 

Altius has developed a list of risks that investors should consider for fixed interest investing, as well as a definition of investment products that make up fixed interest (see attached).

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“The objective of this new plan, called OMT (Outright Monetary Transactions) is expected to provide Sovereign states with benefits similar to those provided to European Banks via the Long-Term Refinancing Operations (LTRO) announced last year – lower funding costs, and improved availability of funds.

“High bond rates make it almost impossible for the heavily indebted sovereign states to deleverage, as the heavily indebted sovereign states need to issue more debt in order to pay the high interest cost. This initiative will still leave parts of Europe with low growth, high unemployment and continuing need to de-leverage but the announcement of the new plan has effectively boosted market sentiment, and provided a solution to the continuing refinancing requirements of certain sovereign states.”

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Tony Robinson said  “Kate has done a terrific job over the last 18 months successfully restructuring and simplifying the Ventura/ All Star business. The business has now reached a point where the challenges for Kate will be significantly less over the near term, and the demands of the business on Kate will similarly be materially lower than it has been historically.”

He added, “As a consequence, Kate and I agreed that it was an appropriate time to eliminate the role of CEO Ventura/ All Star and to merge that part of the Group with the platform businesses under Mat Walker into a new merged Product and Platform unit.”

Kate Mulligan said: “I am very proud of the FUM and revenue growth generated from creation of the funds management business, including All Star.  The realignment of Ventura to provide financial advisers with cost effective, best of breed solutions for their customers with additional services has been particularly satisfying.”

She added. “My job is completed here; it’s time to go onto my next challenge.”

Tony Robinson added: “I would like to take the opportunity to thank Kate for her efforts over her time with the Group and I know Kate leaves comfortable in the knowledge that she has successfully realigned the Ventura Multi manager business and established a sound funds management operational capability for the Group.”

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Fidelity appointed Nick McDowell as Head of Wholesale Sales.

In this role, Nick will be responsible for driving the development and diversity of Fidelity’s wholesale funds business through Intermediaries including banks, insurance companies and financial advisers. He will also provide leadership and strategic direction to Fidelity’s wholesale sales team and have account responsibilities for some of the fund manager’s largest clients. 

Nick was previously National Account Director for Fidelity and has over 13 years experience in the industry, having held senior roles at BT Investment Management, BT Financial Group and Westpac.

He reports to Gerard Doherty, Managing Director of Fidelity in Australia, who said: ”Our wholesale fund business has performed very well through this challenging period with positive flows and improved shelf space.

“There are signs that the industry is emerging from a difficult time and re-focusing on growth and we want to make sure we are well positioned to make the most of the emerging new growth.”

Fidelity has increased its funds under management over the past year by more than 20% to over $10 billion in its Australian, global and Asian equity capabilities.

Mark Jordan has been appointed National Account Manager.

He was previously Portfolio Specialist Equities for Perpetual Investment Management and has over 13 years experience in the industry having held roles at IWL and AXA Financial Planning.

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The hires bring AMP Capital’s credit markets team to 14 dedicated investment professionals and brings the total number of investment professionals in AMP Capital’s Chicago office to six.

AMP Capital’s Head of Fixed Income Mark Beardow says these appointments reflect the continued growth in the company’s global client base and recognises the increased demand for income.

“David and Patrick bring with them a wealth of experience and are skilled credit market investors. Their appointments expand our credit research and analysis capability and reflect the increased importance of the US as a key market for our clients,” Mr Beardow said.

David Strouse has over 24 years’ experience in senior investment management roles at UBS Global Asset Management in Chicago. He was responsible for analysing and rating the credit quality of corporate debt issuers in the electric power, natural gas/energy, infrastructure and transportation industries.

Patrick Wang has extensive experience in credit research in telecommunications, media and technology in high yield and investment grade across core fixed income portfolios, short duration high yield and loan portfolios. He has held roles at Seneca Capital Management and Bank of America Capital Management and joins AMP Capital from Aviva Investors in Iowa.

Mr Strouse will cover the utilities and pipelines sectors and Mr Wang will cover the telecommunications, media and technology sectors. They will commence in their roles in September 2012 and will report to AMP Capital’s Head of Credit Markets Jeff Brunton.

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