New fund manager leverages wealthy connections

Former Fisher Funds chief investment officer Warren Couillault has joined forces with the Spencer Family Group to launch new fund management company Richmond Investment Management.

Friday, May 13th 2011, 7:27AM 5 Comments

Richmond's initial offering will be two fund-of-funds which are modelled closely on the Spencer Group hedge fund portfolio, and Couillault cited the Spencer funds intellectual property for his decision not to disclose the underlying managers.

"We're raising some money in Richmond which will seek to replicate as close as it can the existing Spencer Group portfolio, so Richmond will have a portfolio that looks very similar to the Spencer portfolio. It can't look exactly the same because some of the funds are closed, but it will look as close as it can," Couillault said.

"We're not wanting to disclose the identity of the underlying managers because that's our intellectual property and it's the Spencer Group's access to those managers that makes Richmond have a significant point of difference."

The fund has a minimum initial investment of $25,000 but has no requirements for top-up fees as Couillault said they wanted to market the fund firmly at the retail investor.

"We kept the structure pretty simple. We don't have horrible long lock-ups or big minimums or top-ups every year. We're keeping it simple, a traditional retail unit trust PIE."

Couillault said he was confident the fund will perform given the Spencer Group portfolio's track record of returns, and was looking forward to offering ordinary New Zealanders the chance to invest with some world-class fund managers.

"Richmond is offering investors a truly unique opportunity to invest with what we believe are some of the best fund managers in the world. These managers are usually only accessible to super high net worth or institutional investors."

In the wake of the global financial crisis, Couillault also believes the hedge fund managers in question have proven ability to generate absolute positive returns.

"We believe good hedge fund managers are very good at minimising downside, so a portfolio of investments with the right hedge fund is expected to result in a combination of positive returns and low volatility," he said.

« Cuts to KiwiSaver tax credit but no 'slash and burn' Budget, says Key

KiwiSaver mismatch a 'huge challenge' for advisers »

Special Offers

Comments from our readers

On 13 May 2011 at 9:29 am Curious said:

A couple of questions for Warren. Does he anticpate that the product will be recommended to retail clients by AFA's?
If yes how does he think that AFA will satisfy their research requirements under Code 6 if the underlying hedge fund managers are not disclosed?

On 13 May 2011 at 3:13 pm Warren Couillault said:

An AFA recommending the Richmond funds should be satisifed that he/she has sufficient understanding of the investment attributes of a diversified fund of hedge funds as well as Richmond's investment approach. An AFA can also use any appropriate analysis/research from another person (eg research team). We are available at any time to meet with investment professionals in this regard. Richmond aims to be transparent concerning investment process etc. Each month we will provide details of asset allocation across the various strategies, number of investments etc along with traditional return and performance details. Certain manager details may be disclosed over time (e.g. top three positions etc). I hope that helps. If you have any other questions please call me on 021 489-101 to discuss. Warren Couillault

On 13 May 2011 at 6:16 pm Interested said:

I only had a quick glance at the investment statement - but wanted to know if the management fees included the management fees and performance fees paid to the underlying investment managers. It appears under the fees section it does. Does anyone know for sure?

On 14 May 2011 at 9:15 am jasper said:

So let me get this straight. You wont disclose the underlying funds, but they will be similar to the spencer family portfolio except for the funds that are closed and no longer available for new investors.

And the funds that are closed will obviously be the most successful ones. So explain again how the spencer investment experience will be relevant to retail investors investing in an opaque, non-disclosed vehicle?

Back to the drawing board I think - are you sure you have thought your offering through?

On 17 May 2011 at 8:25 pm Andrew said:

Would have to rank as one of the more bizarre investment offerings to hit the market for some time. At a time when transparency, full disclosure and understandable investments are required this ticks very few of the boxes.