The $50 billion US-based fund manager Artisan Partners has entered into a distribution agreement for the Australian market.
Artisan has entered into an agreement with Grey Pine Advisory, a newly-established third party distribution firm led by former Wellington Management director of institutional business development Whitney Drayton.
Artisan flagged last year that it was interested in establishing a local presence and was initially thought to be setting up its own office. However, it has chosen for an exclusive arrangement with Drayton.
Grey Pine is solely owned and operated by Drayton, and through Grey Pine, Drayton will focus solely on executing Artisan's distribution strategy and leading the firm's local business development efforts in its global and emerging markets strategies, the firm said.
Artisan head of global distribution Dean Patenaude is in Australia to speak with asset consultants and prospective clients.
"Australia ranks as the fourth largest investment market in the world by funds under management. The size of that opportunity is attractive to us and the growth profile and highly institutional makeup of the market align well with our business model. We are excited to leverage Whitney's experience to offer Artisan's investment management services to investors in Australia and New Zealand," he said.
Patenaude, who used to work together with Drayton at Wellington Management until he left in 2001 to join Affiliated Managers Group, could not provide further comment on the arrangement due to the restrictions placed on the company in relation to its planned initial public offering in the US.
Artisan Partners has five autonomous investment teams that oversee 12 distinct US, non-US and global investment strategies. Each strategy is offered through multiple investment vehicles to accommodate a broad range of client mandates.
As of September 30, Artisan had approximately $51.8 billion in assets under management. The firm's principal offices are located in Milwaukee, San Francisco, Atlanta, New York and London.
