Bennelong Aussie equities launch

Paul Cuddy

Melbourne-based Bennelong Funds Management (BFM) has launched a new Australian equities arm — Bennelong Australian Equity Partners — to be run by former key members of ING Investment Management’s Australian equities team.

The new business, which will initially launch the ASX300 Australian Core and Concentrated Equity funds, will be headed by Paul Cuddy as chief executive officer and Mark East as chief investment officer, who previously managed over $10 billion in funds under management at ING.

The two principals are joined by former ING staffers Michael Chun and Michael Malseed as senior investment analysts, while former Schroders staffer Keith Hwang joins as director of quantitative research.

Cuddy told Money Management that the decision to leave ING and partner the new business with Bennelong Funds Management was based on the desire to be proprietors of the business and not just salaried employees.

Majority ownership of Bennelong Australian Equity Partners will be held by staff, with Bennelong Group providing seed capital for the start-up venture.

Curry also attributed BFM’s long-term commitment to the joint venture as a partner of choice, a strong entrepreneurial culture and the company’s philanthropic agenda as key reasons to team up.

In launching the new Australian equities business, BFM’s chief executive officer Jarrod Brown said Bennelong Australian Equity Partners would complement BFM’s other two boutique businesses — Australian commercial property (Bennelong Property Funds Management) and alternative assets (Bennelong Long/Short Equities Management).

Brown also confirmed that the parent company would look to diversify into other asset classes further down the track.

The Australian equities team will be based in Sydney, with an institutional launch scheduled for September and a retail launch in October this year.