CFS awards global equities mandate

Colonial First State (CFS) has awarded a global equities mandate to a US$160 billion fund manager.

US fund manager Brown Advisory has won the mandate to oversee the global equities strategy available on FirstChoice, debuting on May 24.

The option - Ironbark Brown Advisory Global Share Fund - is brought to investors in collaboration with Ironbark Asset Management, marking the Baltimore-headquartered fund manager's first foray in the Australian wholesale market last September.

The Ironbark Brown Advisory Global Share Fund, an actively managed portfolio of high-conviction global equities, has some $2 billion in assets under management.

It aims to outperform the MSCI ACWI (AUD) by 2-3% after fees over five-year rolling periods.

Incepted in 2015, the fund is managed by London-based portfolio managers Mick Dillon and Bertie Thomson.

Founded in 1993, the firm's clients include family offices, endowments, foundations and institutional investors.

"We are grateful to CFS for their trust and partnership and look forward to working together closely to deliver great outcomes for investors," said Dillon.

Ironbark Investment Solutions chief executive Alex Donald said the mandate builds on Brown Advisory's growing presence in Australia and is a testament to the calibre of its long-running Global Leaders strategy and the increasing demand for this institutional-grade capability in the Australian market.

In September 2024, Ironbark said it appointed Brown Advisory to manage the Concentrated Global Share Fund and Robeco to oversee the Core Global Share Fund.

Last week, CFS told investors that Celeste Funds Management will hand back its mandate of managing the Celeste Australian Small Companies that is in the FirstChoice menu.

Celeste is reportedly shutting after 27 years in operation. The small- and mid-cap fund manager specialised in ASX stocks and is 100% owned by its employees.

In 2018, Pacific Current Group (PAC) offloaded its stake in the Sydney-based manager, selling it to Celeste's founder and chief investment officer Frank Villante for $1.6 million.

CFS also told investors that it will make changes to the underlying manager allocations of the CFS Australian Small Companies investment option.

"Celeste has committed to continuing to manage the funds in an orderly and prudent manner until the transition is complete. CFS will continue to monitor the management of the portfolios closely," CFS said.

This article previously incorrectly stated that CFS awarded the mandate to Robeco and Brown Advisory last September. The article was updated at 3.23pm to reflect the progress of the September 2024 mandates and to correctly reflect that Ironbark awarded the mandates.