Fidelity fights back with retail launches

Fidelity Investments has made its first real stand-alone push into the financial planning market in Australia, launching both a domestic and international equity fund in an attempt to win back some of the $2 billion lost after its relationship with Perpetual was annulled last year.

The giant US mutual, which manages $5 billion for institutional clients in Australia, had been left without a foothold in the financial planning market after its exclusive deal to manage international equities on behalf of Perpetual’s retail clients ended last September.

Perpetual cut-off the deal after it poached four portfolio managers from the Bank Of Ireland Asset Management to set up its own international equities arm. The new business, to be based in Dublin, is expected to officially open this month.

Fidelity managing director Michael Ohlsson said the group was in the process of transitioning the $2 billion it was managing as part of the Perpetual deal to the Dublin based subsidiary.

However Ohlsson said the launch of the two funds targeting advisers was a signal that Fidelity was determined to go it alone to establish a presence in the advice space.

“These are the first of many products we will be taking into the intermediary space,” Ohlsson said.

The growth-biased domestic equity fund will be managed by lead portfolio manager Paul Taylor, an Australian who joined Fidelity in London before returning to Australia two years ago.

The international fund is almost identical to the product Fidelity distributed through Perpetual.

Fidelity director Jenny Josling said the group would initially target advisers who were familiar with the group through the Perpetual relationship.

Fidelity has already hired three sales people to spearhead the push in Sydney with another three appointments expected in Melbourne shortly.

Josling said the group, which would distribute the funds through master trusts and wraps, had “humble expectations” for the first 12 months, although hopes for the international fund were higher than that of the domestic fund because of advisers’ familiarity with it.