Frank Russell moves into retail

FrankRussell Company will make larger moves into the retail end of the market by expanding on its relationship with distribution agents, according to Frank Russell Australasia managing director Alan Schoenheimer.

He says the group is better known as an asset consultant and has previously been focused on the institutional end of the market but would move some of its focus to retail due to strong shifts to multi-manager funds by investors.

However, he says, the group will not add more staff as part of the retail push but rather focus on dealing with the heads of distribution in a bid to gain placings on master trust and wrap platforms.

“We do not have an administration platform of any type so we are not wedded to one and can comfortably sit on any type of platform offered to advisers,” Schoenheimer says.

Frank Russell already has relationships with BT, ANZ and Matrix, a boutique funds management group but Schoenheimer says it is understandable why the group’s name is not widely known.

“We are not interested in being on every master trust in town and will only go on them when dealer groups ask for us. We are not interested in being just another product on the shelf,” Schoenheimer says.

He says this will only occur when the group has had a chance to sell the benefits of its style of global multi-manager investing.

“Dealer groups have not heard of us because we have not pushed this far. It is true we are better known in the boardroom than the living room and becoming known to intermediaries is important,” Schoenheimer says.