Morphic Asset Management, the fund manager launched by former Hunter Hall investment staff, will gain inflows in two weeks after Innova Portfolio Management chose it to manage client money.
Morphic, a global-equity fund manager started on Monday by former Hunter Hall deputy-chief investment officer Jack Lowenstein and portfolio manager Chad Slater, will become one of many firms used by Innova to invest client money in global markets as soon as July 23. Innova’s customers are individual investors committing thousands or millions to the company’s funds.
“It will be a very short time until money goes into Morphic,” Dan Miles, managing director of Innova Portfolio Management, said in a telephone interview from his office in Neutral Bay, a suburb on Sydney Harbour.
Innova, which is owned by Fortnum Financial Advisers and oversees about $120 million in client money, has assessed Morphic’s investment process and included it in its Global Share Fund, which outsources stock selection to managers. Innova’s ratings team includes former Genesys Wealth Advisers and RI Advice fund researchers.
“We’ve known Jack and Chad for many years,” Miles said. “The risk management that they’re placing around their investment process gives it more robustness than what we’ve already known.”
Lowenstein and Slater have provided seed capital for their strategy, which involves holding short- and long-term positions in stocks worldwide. They join Platinum Asset Management, Magellan Financial Group and Aberdeen Asset Management in the Innova fund.
The Morphic founders are majority owners of the company. The remaining stake will be shared among staff and Innova clients investing in a new private equity fund that will acquire a “substantial minority share,” Miles said. Innova will not gain an ownership interest through the fund or set a future date to exit its clients’ investment in Morphic.
“There is no timeframe set in stone. When you set a seven-, 10- or 12-year timeframe it doesn’t take future market conditions into account,” Miles said.
