The demand for Australian and Asian equity manufacturing capability is strong enough from offshore that a local firm has recruited a former Societe Generale multi-asset portfolio manager, once responsible for 1.1 billion euros, to build a database of local managers which now numbers more than 1000.

Eva Riou, who began working for Sydney-based Primary Asset Consulting last year after arriving from Paris, is assisting the firm’s efforts to build a superior knowledge of the local funds management talent which can sometimes fly under the radar.

Primary Asset Consulting is perhaps best known for its executive search division, however its Advisory division is offering three different services – strategic advice to firms looking to enter the Australian market or develop an existing business within it; manager research for allocation, partnership or acquisition; and a placement agent/capital introduction service.

Warren McAuley, the funds management and institutional broking veteran who runs the advisory practice, observes that while the cycle of start-up boutiques is over for now, there are still plenty of exisitng teams out there struggling with how to “take things to the next level…they need to define a strategy, have strong distribution and a robust business model if they want to grow”.

The buoyant economies of Australia and Asia generally has made those markets increasingly attrractive to US and European groups, McAuley says, with Australia-managed Asian equity capability being a particular sweet spot for offshore groups with an M&A budget, he says.