Global ex-US micro-cap fund launched in Australia



US-based THB and Australia’s Brookvine have brought international micro-cap investing to local investors with the launch of the THB International (ex-USA) Micro Cap Fund.
The strategy seeks to provide access to the large and under-invested universe of international micro-cap stocks and invests in all major developed markets outside the US.
The new fund complements the THB US Micro Cap Fund, which boasts a 21.3 per cent per annum return (in US dollars) since inception in 2015 through to 31 July 2018.
Seeded by IOOF Investment Management with an initial investment of $40 million, the fund is now available to wholesale investors in Australia and New Zealand, Brookvine said.
IOOF’s deputy chief investment officer, Stanley Yeo, said IOOF Investments is a longstanding supporter of emerging opportunities that can produce out-sized returns and add to overall portfolio diversification.
“THB’s specialist management of this inefficient and under-invested segment of the non-US equity market expands our global equity opportunity set, with a view to contributing to long-term returns for the IOOF MultiMix International Shares Trust,” he said.
Brookvine CEO, Steven Hall, said he was excited by the expansion of the four-year partnership with THB, which had focused to date on US micro caps.
“Like its US counterpart, international (non-US) micro-cap stocks have favourable characteristics including a large universe of companies, little to no sell-side coverage, few investment managers with a credible track record or process, and a low correlation to global equities,” he said.
“We’ve received strong interest from forward-thinking investors who wish to diversify their equities exposure across markets and beyond large-cap stocks. Many investors also view micro caps as an alternative to private equity.”
Recommended for you
Retailisation of private markets such as evergreen funds may seem like appealing options for wholesale and retail investors, but providers risk undermining trust if their products are unclear.
Ethical investment manager Australian Ethical has seen its funds under management rise by a third over FY25 to close out the year at $13.9 billion.
BlackRock Australia’s head of intermediary distribution James Waterworth has taken up a new distribution role at an alternative asset manager, while Antipodes has hired a distribution director.
BlackRock’s iShares ETFs have reported a record first half for inflows, gaining US$192 billion in the past six months, to see overall ETF assets under management rise to US$4.7 trillion as it launches its first active ETF in Australia.