Advance signs international alliance
US based giant Advance Funds Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) have formed a strategic alliance under which GSAM equity funds will be distributed via Advance’s network.
Advance managing director Malcolm Robertson says the alliance will help the group offer clients access to a range of investment styles.
"GSAM is a multi-style manager with a variety of strategies employed for its broad range of equity funds," he said.
While there is currently no GSAM fund on offer to Advance clients, chief investment officer Stephen Lam says the group is likely to offer a standard global product first. "The Goldman Sachs product range is diverse," he says.
"We are looking at what the Australian market requires and will be tailoring a Goldman Sachs offering to our clients."
Robertson says the agreement with GSAM is exclusive and current arrangements with other equity product providers will be phased out.
"All international equity products offered by Advance will now be Goldman Sachs products," he said. "We will look at existing funds but our intention is to have a long term relationship with Goldman Sachs and wherever possible use products manufactured by Goldman Sachs."
Robertson says the alliance is representative of the group's commitment to grow its funds under management.
"We want to more than treble funds under management to beyond $10 billion within three years," he says.
Further to that commitment, Robertson says Advance has also grown its distribution channels.
"Our strategic initiative is to grow our three adviser channels," he says.
"We have financial planners, private banking advisers and investment advisers.
We now have 90 investment advisers from a standing start this year serving the St George customer base."
Advance currently manages about $3 billion for 125,000 clients. Goldman's Sach's investment has $US277 billion assets under management.
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