A founder and portfolio manager of Lazard Asset Management’s global listed infrastructure fund (GLIF), Ian Smith, will shortly leave the firm and won’t be directly replaced.
Lazard AM chief executive Rob Prugue said the fund, which has amassed $360 million from Australia and $1.8 billion globally since its launch in late 2005, would retain co-founder Warryn Robertson as portfolio manager and would seek more analysts. John Mulquiney is currently the sole Australian-based analyst for the fund. Smith was instrumental in defining the criteria for stock selection in GLIF (monopoly assets with inelastic supply/demand curves are preferred) and the portfolio construction, which is similar to the concentrated, benchmark-agnostic profile of LAM’s Australian Equities Select Fund (GLIF owns just 30 names worldwide). After he leaves at the end of the month, it is understood Smith will pursue other business-building opportunities in funds management.
Australian asset owners are eyeing a more volatile macro backdrop as they try to find their way to the end of the AI story abroad and wrestle with heightened regulatory scrutiny at home.
Lachlan MaddockMarch 25, 2025
