Lazard Rises in 2014 Fund Manager of the Year Awards
FUND MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Winner
Lazard Asset Management Pacific Co.
Finalists
BT Investment Management
Legg Mason Asset Managament Australia
Lazard Asset Management Pacific Co. has been crowned Money Management/Lonsec’s Fund Manager of the Year.
The Australian arm of the New York-headquartered asset firm won the accolade at the annual fund manager awards evening in Sydney.
Lazard took the mantle from 2013 winner Hyperion Asset Management, which last year ended Schroeder Investment Management’s four-year reign.
It comes as the Pacific asset management group passes the 20-year milestone and celebrates $20.1 billion in funds under management, as at December 2013.
In line with its predecessors, the formula for success for Lazard was its long-term investment philosophy, chief executive officer Susan Roberts said.
“We take a long-term view and build portfolios which can be quite different to the market consensus. The past year has been no exception in that regard,” she said.
“For over a decade, our discipline of identifying value has remained unchanged and we expect that over time this will provide our investors with a compelling rate of return.”
The Australian equities fund performed particularly well, according to Roberts, again thanks to a longer-term approach.
“The average time period we have held and sold out of stocks has been 4.5 years and the portfolios today maintain a similar profile.”
Fellow finalists BT Investment Management and Legg Mason similarly recognised the value of the long-term view and the importance of stock selection.
“I think our philosophy is we go and try and identify value irrespective of where it may present itself in the market,” BTIM’s managing director and chief executive, Emilio Gonzalez, said.
“We look at every stock on its own merit, irrespective of where it is in the cycle.”
For Legg Mason, success this year was a result of making the right allocation calls and the Australian team not interfering in areas where it could not add value.
“We’re well aware of market cycles, but we also don’t get caught up in fads that destroy value,” the company’s chief investment officer, Reece Birtles, said.
Team effort behind the triumph - Top managers praise team success
Finding the 2014 Fund Manager of the Year
2014 WINNERS:
Global Equities (Broad Cap) - Arrowstreet Global Equity Fund
Global Equities (Regional and Emerging Markets) - Macquarie Asia New Stars No.1 Fund
Responsible Investments - Perpetual Ethical SRI Fund
Australian Equities (Broad Cap) - Lazard Select Australian Equity Fund
Australian Equities (Small Cap) - Ausbil MicroCap Fund
Equities (Long Short) - Platinum Japan Fund
Property & Infrastructure Securities - Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Fund
Alternative Investments - AQR Managed Futures Fund
Multi-Sector - Legg Mason Diversified Trust
Asset Allocator of the Year - Legg Mason Diversified Trust
Fixed Interest (Diversified) - Templeton Global Bond Plus
ETF Provider - Vanguard Investments Australia Limited
Retirement Product Innovation - BTIM Defensive & Balanced Equity Income
Emerging Manager - Paradice Global Small Mid Cap Fund
Lifetime Achievement - Kerr Nielson
Young Achiever of the Year - Charmaine Cheung
Advertising Campaign of the Year - Challenger
Marketing Team of the Year - CommInsure
Business Development Manager of the Year - Greg Bird
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