BT Investment Management (BTIM) will not make any acquisitions over the next 12 months, but will instead focus on bedding down the takeover of J O Hambro Capital Management.
"We are obviously going to focus in the next 12 months to bed that down well and make sure the momentum continues uninterrupted and the investment culture is preserved. We have no plans to do anything else," BTIM chief executive Emilio Gonzalez told InvestorDaily.
Gonzalez' statement would rule it out as a strategic partner for Pinnacle Investment Management, whose parent company, Wilson HTM, last week announced it was talking with a number of parties, including domestic firms, about selling a stake in the boutique manager.
Asked if Gonzalez would consider a transaction that would add a whole suite of boutiques, he answered that any transaction would have to be judged on its merits.
"You have to remember that our acquisition of J O Hambro was not there for the desire to make an acquisition, but from the desire of the strategy: how do we increase the growth profile of the business, but also diversify it from our most successful business, which is Australian equities?" he said.
"Sixty per cent of the revenue was [from] one asset class. We wanted to de-risk that and also improve the growth profile. That was where the discussion started.
"For us to consider bringing something else on board, it has to meet our criteria around: what is it bringing in terms of investment capability [so] that you can raise money?
"The canvas is quite broad, but it has to meet our criteria around: what are you bringing to the table?"
Besides, the takeover of 100 per cent of the shares in J O Hambro meant BTIM was ahead of schedule, he said.
"If you commit to a company that is growing, it probably would be a pathway over a number of years. [But] the fact that we could do it from day one means that we could have diversity of growth from day one. We are ahead of our planning," he said.
Instead, BTIM will concentrate on growing its cash and fixed income and global macro boutiques.
BTIM was also preparing to launch a new retail-focused fixed income fund shortly, Gonzalez said.
"The fixed income fund is a composite that consists of government and credit," he said.
"We are not coming out with anything that is marginally differentiated, but our positioning, our brand and hopefully our performance will differentiate it and alongside with our cash income product we hope we will be able to win money in that category."
The fund leverages off an existing institutional strategy of BTIM, which has been run for external clients for 12 months and internally for longer. Gonzalez said he expected to launch the fund soon.
BTIM yesterday announced its results for the 12 months to 30 September 2011.
Including the costs of the J O Hambro acquisition, BTIM posted a net profit of $16.9 million, which was 23 per cent lower than the previous year.
Funds under management as at 30 September stood at $32.7 billion, compared to $35.4 billion at the same time last year.
