The hub launching this week, Evergreen Ratings, has a specific focus on closed-end, wholesale, illiquid and listed investment vehicles offered by Australian global fund managers to Australian investors.
Evergreen Ratings’ research will include property syndicates, private equity, venture capital and hedge funds.
It is due to release four research reports soon after its launch, with three of the reports being across solar energy, private capital and property syndicates.
Fund managers will have to pay a fee to have their investment products and vehicles rates, with the reports to be made available to financial advisers.
Evergreen Ratings founder and director Angela Ashton reported the parent company had been “constantly” asked to review investment vehicles by advisers or the managers issuing them.
“Evergreen Consultants, being a consulting group, has traditionally focussed on managed accounts and liquid investments, and a considered analysis of the non-traditional products often sits outside the scope of our standard client work,” Ms Ashton said.
“However, we are strongly of the view that there is a place for these products across investment portfolios and we think it is important to offer a ‘whole of portfolio’ service. We believe there is a clear gap in the market in rating these types of investment vehicles at the very time the supply and demand for them is growing significantly among financial planners and their clients.”
She added the products Evergreen Ratings will overlook are often more complex than the average managed fund, requiring substantial resources and skill sets to be assessed.
“We believe this is one of the key reasons other ratings houses have not analysed these types of products consistently,” Ms Ashton said.
“Many of these vehicles offer opportunities that are difficult to get in a standard managed funds format such as high levels of consistent yield. This becomes all the more relevant in today’s highly uncertain economic scenario.”
The house is also looking to develop a standalone ESG assessment framework.
Daniel Liptak, who has worked across Deloitte and Zenith Investment Partners, and Mark Wist, who has experience researching and rating property funds at PIR and Atchison Consultants will be on the Evergreen Ratings team alongside Ms Ashton.
Sarah Simpkins
Sarah Simpkins is a journalist at Momentum Media, reporting primarily on banking, financial services and wealth.
Prior to joining the team in 2018, Sarah worked in trade media and produced stories for a current affairs program on community radio.
You can contact her on [email protected].
