Navigator has added 11 funds, primarily growth and alternative vehicles, to its investment platform.
Andrew Barker, Navigator general manager wealth management products, said the bent towards alternative vehicles was driven by planner demand. “Financial planners tend to have a core set of funds in addition to satellite funds to provide diversification. “Our additions have been in the alternatives space. It’s related to the bull market.” The alternative funds join Select Asset Management’s multi-manager alternatives portfolio, which was added in August 2006, as well as the Deutsche Asset Management strategic value fund and three HFA products. Barker said the funds, listed below, would be available through Navigator within the week. The recently added products are: Armytage strategic opportunities fund; Challenger wholesale select Australian share fund; Goldman Sachs JBWere Australian infrastructure wholesale fund; Macquarie Australian small companies incentives fund; Merrill Lynch asset allocation alpha fund (class D units); Advance wholesale global alpha fund; Perennial growth shares wholesale trust; K2 Australian absolute return fund; K2 Select international absolute return fund; Australian Unity wholesale high yield mortgage trust; and Perpetual wholesale Australian share fund. There are 260 funds on the Navigator platform, with $17 billion in funds under administration, and alternative funds are not charged any additional fees for inclusion.
There is one investment area where Insignia’s $180 billion super arm has not lost money for the past 17 years, which is what it calls the insurance-related investments. The alternatives strategy is gaining popularity among asset owners due to its diversification benefit, but Insignia’s super and asset management investment chief Dan Farmer warns it is a space where investors can suffer if they “stumble in without doing the homework”.
Darcy SongJanuary 23, 2025
