Austock Asset Management has hired an investment manager and an equities analyst for its Australian equities fund – both coming from broking houses.
According to Austock managing director Alan Sheen, the $380 million manager was “filling out our process” with the new recruits who started yesterday. The new investment manager is Stuart Larke, who has been at Goldman Sachs JBWere since 2000. His most recent position was as director/research analyst in the emerging companies research team. The new equities analyst is Wesley Nation, who was previously an equities research analyst with E. L. & C Baillieu Stockbroking. The hires bring Austock AM’s Australian equities team to five, headed by Silvio Gasparet. This asset class, however, is Austock AM’s smaller portfolio measured by funds under management. The Australian equities fund – which invests in 25 to 29 stocks from the top 200 Australian stocks – holds roughly $80 million of Austock AM’s $380 million, according to Sheen. The remaining $300 million is in the fixed income fund, a high yield portfolio investing in a mix of hybrids and convertibles, according to Sheen. The fixed income team is a duo with Doyle Mallet as head and Brad Bugg as senior analyst. Austock AM has just received its first rating from Standard & Poor’s – a three star recommendation for its fixed income fund.
Future Fund chief investment officer Ben Samild said that FY24 has been a great year for alpha creation, thanks to strong returns in equities and, unusually, across multiple hedge fund strategies all at the same time. He reflected the past few years have been “a difficult time to be an asset owner and to generate positive returns for risk assets” but the Future Fund is tracking well of its long-term mandate.
Simon Hoyle and Darcy SongSeptember 4, 2024
