A change of strategy at Magellan Financial Group will see it launch one global fund, led by portfolio manager Hamish Douglas, rather than four separate global funds, and has resulted in Heath Behncke leaving the firm.
The global fund will draw on the three specialisations of financial services, brand and infrastructure, which were originally going to be launched as separate funds alongside a global high conviction fund. Now one global fund will be launched at the end of July although a separate global infrastructure fund will also be developed. Chris Mackay, chief investment officer of Magellan, said the change of strategy was due to the assessment that one global fund would be easy to understand for investors and planners. In addition the firm wanted to capitalise on the expertise of Hamish Douglas, Mackay said. “;Hamish Douglas is an outstanding investment manager and we thought it was most important to have him as manager of our leading offering,”; he said. Dom Giuliano will take over the financial services analysts tasks of Behncke, who before joining Magellan was at Perennial Value. The infrastructure fund will continue to be led by former Capital Partners infrastructure specialists, Gerald Slack and Denis Eager.
The total portfolio approach has already been implemented by some of the biggest asset owners around the world. But with the advent of a more volatile market and macro backdrop more funds might start putting it to work.
Lachlan MaddockApril 18, 2025
