The committee was formed as a key risk mitigation tool for the global infrastructure fund, which was made available to retail investors with a minimum investment of $25,000 on 1 November.
“When you consider the global nature of our investments, and we are looking at investments in 25 different countries, having a sufficient level of macroeconomic analysis becomes a key risk mitigation tool,” MBA GLI portfolio manager Lachlan Pike said in Sydney yesterday.
“With that risk focus in mind, we see two core objectives for the macroeconomic committee: to ensure timely and consistent input, and to protect the portfolio from unintended country, currency or macroeconomic risks.”
Launched in February this year, MBA GLI is the brainchild of former Macquarie bankers Andrew Maple-Brown, Justin Lannen, Steven Kempler and Lachlan Pike.
“We all left Macquarie for different reasons and at different times, but really the two key common factors for us leaving were, firstly, that we believed in the asset class for the long term and wanted to tie our careers to the asset class but felt the level of interest working in a funds management firm within a bank didn’t best provide that,” MBA GLI head Andrew Maple-Brown said. “The second was a common view in terms of how the asset class should be managed.
“We are largely managing it in a similar way that we were at Macquarie, but the slight difference is that there needs to be a focus on the core characteristics of infrastructure assets, in particular low volatility cash flows of the assets and inflation protection.”
The fund was initially only available to wholesale investors at a $500,000 minimum, but is now open to retail investors.
The GLI Global Macroeconomic Advisory Committee consists of former UK Treasury economic adviser Julian Jessop and Gerard Minack of Minack Advisors.
