Barclays Global Investors dominated wholesale new fund business and the Macquarie group dominated retail new business over the past year, according to the preliminary S&P Market Share Report for the September quarter.
Net fund flows for both managers accelerated in the quarter, cementing their positions at the top of their respective fund flow charts. “Barclays has vaulted into second position” for wholesale FUM, according to S&P, with $21.7 billion under management compared with $14.7 billion only three months earlier. Commonwealth/Colonial retained number one in S&P-measured wholesale assets with $21.8 billion, compared with $19.1 billion at the end of June. However, the S&P wholesale assets do not include mandates. The researcher puts the industry total of wholesale funds at only $205.3 billion – less than half other estimates. And Australia’s largest manager of institutional assets, State Street Global Advisors, is not represented on the ‘top 10 by wholesale FUM’ list. S&P says that this is because SSgA does not comply with its guidelines and the two were in discussions to resolve the issue. Barclays’ wholesale net fund inflows over the year to September – a good measure of marketing success – were $4.1 billion. Next came UBS Global Asset Management, with $1.8 billion, followed by Commonwealth/Colonial, AMP and Perpetual, each with $1.2 billion. On the retail side, the net funds inflow for Macquarie in the quarter was top of the chart at $1.7 billion, as it was in the year, with $4 billion. Second for both the quarter and the year was AMP, with $1.1 billion in the quarter and $2.8 billion in the year. Third for the quarter was BT/Westpac, with $800 million, and third for the year was National/MLC with $2.1 billion. S&P said that strong flows into the Macquarie wrap were the main driver of the firm’s success. It noted that AMP’s position was boosted by the one-off transfer of about $1 billion from the AMP staff super fund. Interestingly, Platinum Asset Management has come back in favour after several quarters of lacklustre flows. The manager’s Asian fund gathered more than $200 million in the quarter, helping it to a total net inflow of $600 million for the quarter and $1.8 billion for the year. In terms of asset classes, S&P said that strong flows had been experienced in cash and fixed interest in both the quarter than the year. Managers to benefit from this included IOOF, Perpetual, UBS and Commonwealth/Colonial. The Australian-sourced ‘total investment management’, as defined by S&P, rose 6 per cent from $669.6 billion in June to $707.4 billion in September. This reflects funds whereby the managers make the security selection decision (excluding multi-manager products and platforms). However, the Australian share market rose by 10.1 per cent and the international markets rose 8.4 per cent in the same period. S&P noted that the figures in the latest report were preliminary. This report is often changed before the final report is published.
A managed investment scheme holding 20 per cent or more in unlisted assets is deemed an illiquid scheme and is restricted from providing frequent liquidity, but there is no formal limit on how much super funds can allocate to these asset classes. The Conexus Institute writes this is a special privilege given to APRA-regulated super funds that should not be taken for granted.
David Bell and Geoff WarrenFebruary 6, 2025
