Magellan fund conversion adds to $0.7bn August outflows



The conversion of the Magellan Global Fund units has contributed to $0.7 billion in outflows for the fund manager in August.
During the month, the fund manager said it saw outflows of $0.7 billion, with $0.6 billion coming out from retail investors and $0.1 billion from institutional outflows.
Some $0.4 billion of this related to the conversion of the Magellan Global Fund closed class units into open class units.
In July, the firm received approval from the NSW Supreme Court to convert the Magellan Global Fund from a closed class unit to an open-ended Active ETF. Responsible entity Magellan Asset Management subsequently amended the fund and it was delisted from the ASX.
At the time, Magellan said it hoped the conversion would permanently address the trading discount to net asset value per closed class unit and provide more flexibility in relation to how investors could enter or exit the fund.
The impact of this had previously been flagged in the firm’s FY24 results released in August.
Overall funds under management (FUM) fell 1.5 per cent from $38.4 billion to $37.8 billion, coming off a positive month for flows in July when FUM rose from $36.6 billion to $38.4 billion.
Retail FUM fell from $16.6 billion to $16 billion, while institutional FUM was flat at $21.8 billion.
Thanks to the unit conversion, global equities saw the biggest hit to their FUM where it reported a fall from $14.8 billion to $14.2 billion.
Both Australian equities – which include its Airlie funds – and infrastructure equities were unchanged during the month at $7.1 billion and $16.5 billion respectively. The firm previously shared that these two divisions had seen particular gains during FY24.
In its FY24 results, the firm announced that it had acquired 29.5 per cent of the parent company of Vinva Investment Management, Vinva Holdings, for $138.5 million.
Vinva manages active systematic equity strategies across Australian and global equity markets and has $22 billion in funds under management, having been founded in 2010.
This will see it distribute Vinva’s products and investment strategies through its global distribution team as part of an exclusive distribution agreement, excluding Australian institutional clients. The two firms also intend to collaborate on new product initiatives in Australia and globally.
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