Credit Suisse to expand emerging markets offering

Credit Suisse Asset Management plans to introduce more emerging markets products in Australia as part of a “more dynamic” product suite which concentrates on alpha generation.

Kim Goodwin, the firm’s London-based managing director and head of equities, said on a recent visit that clients had indicated that they wanted more in emerging markets, particularly following the new arrangement with Julius Baer Investment Management. Credit Suisse announced early this month that it had forged a strategic product relationship with Julius Baer, to complement a similar long-standing relationship with Capital International, which would expand its international offering in Australia. While both managers have global equities strategies, Julius Baer is known to be particularly strong in emerging markets. “They (Julius Baer) have a great emerging markets product suite,” Goodwin said. She said that Credit Suisse, which also has two formal joint ventures in Asia, would consider more arrangements to give it more expertise in emerging markets as well as access to consumers there. Credit Suisse over the past two years has also moved to give its investment teams around the world more autonomy, adopting what it refers to as a “multi-boutique” model. “What differentiates us from the standard boutique, though, is that we’re getting a view of the world,” Goodwin said. “We have a potential alpha exchange which will translate to better performance.” She said that Credit Suisse looked at its investment teams as a portfolio of businesses, whereby the various heads of department, such as Australian equities head Steve Giubin, “own” the product structure decision and talent structure decision. “I think the product suite will be more dynamic than in the past,” Goodwin said. The firm’s two core Australian products are a small-cap fund, which has about $300 million, and a large-cap fund, with $500 million.