It is casual Friday at Treasury Group. Its chief executive Andrew McGill is sans tie. Still, as befits a former investment banker and private-equity general partner, McGill, 44, has perfectly coiffured hair, cuff links from New Mexico and a black-faced Rolex given to him by his wife.
McGill gives off more than a whiff that he is in deal mode. He wants the backer of asset managers, it has stakes in six, to back more promising start ups and finance established businesses. He envisages acquiring, not necessarily all at the same time, a hedge fund focused on Asia, a global property asset manager and a global bond investment manager.
“It’s about driving and growing funds under management and deriving fees from funds,” says McGill in a windowless conference room at Treasury’s offices that overlook Sydney’s Martin Place.
Treasury, which had $15.75 billion in funds under management as of December 31, 2011, is heavy with Australian stock managers. The company’s stable of Australian share investment firms include Orion Asset Management, Investors Mutual and Celeste Funds Management.
McGill wants Treasury Group to offer different products that appeal to more investors.
“I want to broaden our model going forward,” says McGill. “Treasury Group could also assist boutique fund managers in other ways as a financier of fund management groups.”
McGill sees Treasury Group investing in established asset managers in Europe or the US and in return garnering money through revenue sharing arrangements.
He wants to appeal to such managers by ensuring the effectiveness of Treasury Group’s sales and is replacing recently departed institutional-sales head Rob Sullivan with two sales people.
“One of the two people we are hiring could be based outside Australia,” he says. Treasury Group also has a salesman based in London.
McGill worked for Macquarie Bank in equity capital markets and private equity between 1992 and 2000. In 2000 he left to co-found Crescent Capital Partners, a private equity firm, which he left in 2010 thinking he may retire.
“I was too young to do nothing,” says McGill.
He was hired in July 2011 by Treasury Group.
“They picked someone from an investment banking, private equity background, embracing a need to evolve the business,” says McGill. “If we could takeover a business similar to ourselves we would certainly consider it. Our market value, less than $100 million, is a reality check on all of this.”
