Anton Tagliaferro, the founder and chief of Australian equities boutique Investors Mutual, has urged the funds management industry to eliminate excesses.

Tagliaferro, who was inducted into the industry’s Hall of Fame at the Golden Bull Awards held in Sydney last week, drew parallels between the excesses of the 1980s and current industry practices during his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony. He said the entrepreneurs of the ’80s, naming Christopher Skase and Alan Bond, had bought good assets, but they suffered in the crash because they had paid too much for those assets and were over-geared. “Sound familiar?” Tagliaferro asked the audience. “Are we paying too much for assets? Are we over-gearing those assets and are we collecting too many fees from those investments along the way? “We should all do what we can to eliminate excesses rather than encourage them,” he said. Tagliaferro joins the likes of Merv Peacock, AMP’s chief investment officer, and Robert Maple-Brown, founder of Maple-Brown Abbott, in the Hall of Fame. Barclays Global Investors (BGI) took out the coveted Golden Bull Fund Manager of the Year Award, as well as the balanced fund category. Justin Wood, BGI chief, accepted the Awards on behalf of Morry Waked and the BGI team, and remembered to thank “The Hoff” for being inspirational. Other winners on the night included Colonial First State Investments (listed property), Lazard (Australian equities) and Citigroup (Australian fixed interest). Mitchell Stack, Citigroup Asset Management’s head of fixed interest, accepted the award and flagged that the group would return in 2006 under the Western Asset Management name. “Hopefully we’ll be back here next year under the Western banner,” Stack said. Boutique outfit, Independent Asset Management took out the Golden Calf award for the second time in three years.