FMOTY 2023: Spotlight on Innovation
Taking place tonight, the 2023 Fund Manager of the Year Awards will crown this year’s Innovation Award of the Year to the most innovative financial services firm.
The finalists in the category are:
- Betashares Capital
- Generation Life
- L1 Capital
Click here to view the full list of finalists.
This year’s finalists are all leading providers in their field; Betashares in exchange traded funds, Generation Life in retirement income solutions; and L1 Capital for its activist Catalyst Fund.
L1 Capital founded the Catalyst Fund in July 2021 as a high conviction, best ideas fund with an activist overlay for retail investors.
The firm said it was noted for being “one of a very small number of activist investors focused on the S&P ASX 200 that has both significant asset scale and access to companies’ boards and management at a time when investors’ awareness of and interest in activist investing has been increasing”.
Since inception, it had achieved around 10 per cent per annum net outperformance of the ASX 200 Accumulation Index and grown to $1.4 billion in funds under management.
The firm said it expected to retain a strong position as there were major barriers to entry for new strategies of this type.
James Hawkins, partner and head of the Catalyst Fund, said: “They not only require significant capital to become major shareholders in large-cap Australian companies, but also must have strong, long-term relationships with the management and boards of those companies to have influence.”
For Generation Life, the firm’s strength lay in investment bonds for estate planning and retirement solutions purposes. Last year, it also launched an investment-linked lifetime annuity product called LifeIncome to optimise retirement income and minimise retirees’ ‘regret risk’.
The firm said it was key to listen to the needs of their financial adviser clients when developing new products and this would remain a priority of the business.
“One of Generation Life’s core values is to always listen to financial advisers, client concerns and priorities, and then develop our products in response. Our investment products help advisers and their clients to build wealth — and leave legacies — with confidence,” it said.
“With new superannuation caps on the horizon, we’ve been working closely with our adviser network to ensure that clients’ retirement savings are optimised. Our new generation of investment bonds offer a stable and tax-efficient approach to complement superannuation and we are proud to educate audiences further with our Tax Optimised Investment Series to reduce tax and increase investor returns.”
Winners of the 2023 Fund Manager of the Year Awards will be announced tonight at a black-tie gala awards ceremony at The Star in Sydney. Check Money Management on Friday to view all the winners.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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