Clime awarded $183m mandate from US firm

Clime Investment management has been awarded a $183 million (US$117 million) mandate as the primary manager of a pending US domiciled public offer fund by Sphinx Investments.

Subject to regulatory approval, Sphinx will allocate $183 million (US$117 million), and subject to an agreed investment strategy, will continue to allocate between 15% to 20% of Sphinx investors to the vehicles managed by Clime on an ongoing basis.

In addition to the retail offering, which is pending SEC approval, Clime has established a specialist wholesale/sophisticated equivalent offering for clients of Sphinx.

The investment option has $7.3 million (US$4.7million) of committed capital and pre-commitments of $47 million (US$30million). Commencement of the offering is subject to Clime's own legal and compliance review.

Clime said it was awarded the mandate after Sphinx met "challenges" in identifying a "capable and right-sized" partner in the Australian market. To meet the requirement, Clime said it "rapidly" assembled a legal, governance and execution team to address the objective of Sphinx.

To meet requirements Clime established a series of exempted limited partnerships. The structures are not open to Australian investors, but Clime said wholesale, unlisted funds with similar characteristics are available to wholesale Australian investors.

The agreed investment strategy mandates Clime to manage a series of investments in Australian real property, unlisted and listed Australian credit, unlisted private equity and Australian listed companies.

Submissions acceptable to Sphinx were finalised and lodged with the SEC on the 25 April 2025. Approval of the public offer is subject to SEC approval and approval is unknown at this stage.

If successful, the initial retail offering is expected to grow Clime's revenues by approximately $1.75 million in the next 12 months. Wholesale investment offers are expected to grow revenues by $350,000.

Additionally, Clime has entered into a heads of agreement with Dallas-based US equities manager Acruence Capital to strengthen both entities' research capabilities and collaborate on opportunities in the US market.

The agreement with Acruence is expected to increase investment capability and resourcing for Clime's international investment team without a material change to revenue or expenditure.

Clime managing director Michael Baragwanath said Clime is uniquely positioned to execute on the investment strategy.

"Opportunities like this allow us to deliver value for our shareholders as well as superior solutions for our highly valued Australian clients and begin to fulfil the promise we made to structure the company for growth and superior service," Baragwanath said.

"Geopolitical tensions are high, but now is the time for leadership, forging and reinforcing commercial and industrial partnerships that deliver value across borders. Australia's dollar relative to USD represents an exceptional investment opportunity for US investors and we are extremely excited to be able to offer a solution that places capital in real, value adding investments that have an economic impact."