Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) will introduce one of its specialist funds management boutiques to Australia as the French-owned Axa SA reaffirms its commitment to the world's fastest-growing pension market.
Axa IM will this week introduce qualitative global equities funds specialist Axa Framlington to local institutional investors.
The London-headquartered boutique manages nearly $21 billion for clients globally and is led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management's former global chief investment officer Mark Beveridge.
Axa Framlington will sit alongside and complement Axa IM's other boutique already available in Australia, Axa Rosenberg, which specialises in quantitative, international equities funds management, Axa IM Australia director Craig Hurt said.
"Axa Framlington has got a pretty strong proposition that's highly regarded by the United Kingdom consulting community," he told InvestorDaily.
"We're very excited about bringing that platform to Australian institutional investors."
Axa Framlington's global thematic capability will be one of the first to be introduced to Australian institutional investors, Hurt said.
"This is a big superannuation market, it's a market that we think is very attractive and is continuing to grow. Our range of expertise has been widely accepted by the local market and we believe that will continue," he said.
Australian super fund assets jumped 14.4 per cent per annum in local currency terms over the last five years, making them the fastest growing in the world, Watson Wyatt said in August.
Hurt's comments came after Axa IM's global chief executive Dominique Carrel-Billiard reassured Australian clients that the firm would continue to develop its local presence and was unaffected by parent Axa SA and AMP's rejected $11 billion bid for Axa Asia Pacific Holdings.
"We are very enthusiastic about the opportunities this market holds for us and will continue to develop our presence there," Carrel-Billiard said.
Hurt said opening up Axa IM's funds to the financial advisory market is something the firm may consider, but the focus over the next three to four years will be on developing relationships with institutional investors.
Separately, Axa IM appointed Jean-Pierre Leoni as head of Asia Pacific on 12 November. Hurt will report to Leoni.
AxaA IM is the holding company for boutiques including AxaA Rosenberg, Axa Framlington and others that specialise in fixed income, alternatives and real estate.
Locally, the firm manages $3 billion for 23 clients.
