I know what they are doing. But do others?
Ex-Arisaig, CLSA managers team up for new fund
They will start Asian Evolution Fund with London-based firm
RORY Dickson, previously a research head at Arisaig Partners, and
Damian Kestel, formerly of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, have teamed up
with Coupland Cardiff Asset Management to start an Asian
consumer-related fund.
'We will be capping our size at US$300m so that we maintain the
flexibility to invest in smaller and more illiquid companies.'
- Rory Dickson
The managers' CC Asian Evolution Fund, which will invest in small and
medium-capitalised stocks, will start trading on Dec 1, Mr Dickson,
who is based in Singapore, said in an interview yesterday. Coupland
Cardiff, a London-based hedge fund firm focusing on Asian investments,
managed US$600 million as of Sept 1, according to the fund's marketing
document.
Joining Coupland Cardiff will enable Mr Dickson, 40, and Mr Kestel,
41, to focus on running the fund as managers find it tough to raise
assets following the global financial crisis and regulators' increase
oversight of the industry, Mr Dickson said.
Institutional investors are paying more attention to the
organisational and risk management setups of managers they allocate
money to.
'We spent months speaking to a number of hedge funds who might be
potential partners based in Singapore and overseas,' Mr Dickson said.
'Three or five years ago it was easy for a one-man band to set up shop
and get off and running; that's changing.'
Coupland Cardiff has the back-office and compliance system in place as
well as a marketing team with a 'consistent track record in raising
money', Mr Dickson said. The London-based firm oversees Asia
long-short and long- only funds, an event-driven portfolio as well as
Japan-focused investments, he said.
The CC Asian Evolution Fund will bet on rising share prices of
consumer companies in the world's fastest-growing region, including
smaller markets such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Mr Dickson
said. It will trade a maximum of 35 stocks, he said.
'We will be capping our size at US$300 million so that we maintain the
flexibility to invest in smaller and more illiquid companies,' he
said.
The managers plan to raise assets from institutional investors
including pension funds and family offices in Europe and Asia, he
said.
The fund will target annual returns of 12 per cent to 15 per cent,
after fees equal to 1.5 per cent of client assets and 15 per cent of
investment profits, Mr Dickson said.
Consumer stocks are under-represented in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index,
accounting for less than 14 per cent of the gauge, compared with about
34 per cent for the Standard and Poor's 500 Index, according to the
manager.
Asian consumers spent an estimated US$4.3 trillion in 2008, and they
may increase purchases about eight times to US$32 trillion by 2030,
accounting for 43 per cent of worldwide consumption, according to
Asian Development Bank.
'You've got tailwinds of urbanisation, fabulous demographics, rising
disposable incomes, the growth of the middle class, consumer credit,'
Mr Dickson said. 'Asia is just at the start of a long, long journey.'
Mr Dickson was previously the head of the Asean Fund of
Singapore-based Arisaig, which invests in emerging-market consumer
stocks.
Mr Kestel, who is also based in Singapore, was a member of the Asian
equity sales team at CLSA and produced the Bits & Pieces weekly
research report for the brokerage.
The fund will conform with Europe's Undertakings for Collective
Investments in Transferable Securities, a regulated fund format known
as UCITS III. -- Bloomberg
