Macquarie Financial Services Group (MFS) has launched a new investment division that offers international opportunities to both Australian and offshore investors.
The new division, Macquarie Global Investments (MGI), will be headed up by Matthew Rady.
Rady said the first international markets the new division would target were Europe and Asia, including India.
He said the division was formed out of a desire by the financial services group (FSG) to grow its product development capability and provide a broader range of new wholesale and retail products.
"We realised that different parts of the financial services group were already achieving success because of our focus on partnering with specialist providers globally in order to deliver a superior product to investors as well as developing our own proprietary products, which we have made available to investors both in Australia and offshore," he said.
"Pulling this expertise together into one new division, which is dedicated specifically to research and develop products that will meet the needs of specific classes of international investors, no matter which continent they are on, was obvious."
MGI's current product range includes Macquarie Private Portfolio Management, which manages in excess of $1.5 billion in individually managed portfolios, the Macquarie Professional Series, which has raised more than $1 billion from Australian retail and institutional investors, and a range of structured products and alternative assets.
MGI is also responsible for the Macquarie Pastoral Fund, which has received support from United States, European and Australasian institutional investors, and the successful PL100 series, which has developed funds in world water companies and emerging markets infrastructure developments.
Rady said Macquarie's relationship with New Zealand fund manager Brook Asset Management, which is 49 per cent owned by Macquarie and which has plans to expand into the Australian market, would fall under MGI.
"We have a long history with tailored and specific product development for New Zealand, most recently working with Equity Partners to build the Equity Partners Infrastructure No 1 Limited fund (EPIC), which closed oversubscribed, and we are looking forward to building more products for that under-serviced market," he said.
FSG announced a joint venture agreement with Indian wealth manager Religare Enterprises last month.
Yesterday, FSG reported a 52 per cent increase in funds under management to reach more than $92 billion for the six months to September 30, 2007.
