Phillip Capital Management has partnered with Boston-headquartered Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co (GMO) to launch a feeder fund to retail investors in Singapore.
The Singapore-based firm filed an application with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to roll out the Phillip Global Quality Fund, according to the regulator’s records.
The product is a feeder fund that will invest its assets in the GMO Quality Investment Fund, according to the prospectus.
This is the first time that Phillip Capital partnered with a US-based firm to launch a product, said Martin Chong, director of portfolio management at Phillip Capital, adding that the product is also the firm’s first feeder fund.
With the fund still being subject to regulatory approval, Phillip Capital is now finalising the product’s expected launch date and distribution partners, he told FSA.
“Our management team is finalising the expected launch date and distribution partners,” he noted.
The GMO Quality Investment Fund, which is a Ucits product, was launched in 2010 and has $271m in assets, according to its fund factsheet. It is managed by Tom Hancock, Ty Cobb and Anthony Hene.
The product invests in high quality companies globally, which usually have “an established business that will deliver a high level of return on past investments and that will utilise cash flows in the future by making investments with potential for high levels of return on capital or by returning cash to shareholders through dividends, share buybacks or other mechanisms”, according to the prospectus.
As of the end of September, the bulk of the fund’s assets is invested in the US (81.9%), with the technology and healthcare sectors accounting for the largest sector allocations, at 35.5% and 24.9%, respectively, according to the fund factsheet.
The GMO Quality Investment Fund’s country and sector allocations (Ucits version)
The product has a US-domiciled version, managed by the same managers, although there are very little differences. For example, both funds have the same top holdings, but slightly different weightings for each company. The US-domiciled fund has $6.4bn in assets and incepted in 2004, according to the firm’s website.
The GMO Quality Investment Fund’s top 10 holdings (Ucits version)
The GMO Quality Fund’s top ten holdings (US version)
In Asia-Pacific, it operates offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney, according to the website. It offers its products via separate accounts, US-domiciled mutual funds, Ucits, QIFs, Australian Trusts and private funds, subject to availability and qualifying standards.
Meanwhile, Phillip Capital manages six other mutual funds in Singapore, including a Singapore real estate fund, two global equity funds, a global mixed-asset fund and two money market funds, according to the firm’s website.
It also offers three ETFs listed in Singapore, including the SGX APAC Dividend Leaders Reit ETF, the SING Income ETF and the SGD Money Market ETF.
Last month, it also filed an application with the MAS to launch two leveraged and inverse products.
MAS records show that they are still waiting for the regulator’s approval. Once approved, they will be the only L&I products listed on the Singapore Exchange.
