GSFM launches two global private markets funds

GSFM is offering new global private markets opportunities to local institutional and wholesale investors,launching of two new funds in conjunction with its Canadian affiliation.

GSFM, with CI Global Asset Management (CI GAM) as investment manager of the underlying funds, has launched the CI Global Private Markets Growth Fund and CI Global Private Markets Income Fund in Australia. The strategies are available to institutional, wholesale and family office investors.

CI GAM, founded in 1965, is a Canadian investment manager and an affiliate of GSFM.

The CI Global Private Markets Growth Fund is designed to provide long-term capital growth, investing in a diversified portfolio of private equity, venture capital, private credit, private infrastructure, private real estate and more.

Meanwhile, the CI Global Private Markets Income Fund provides similar returns to public markets with far less volatility, with exposure to income-producing assets, including private credit, private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure and royalty funds, GSFM said.

Both funds provide quarterly redemptions and are managed by CI GAM chief investment officer Marc-André Lewis and head of fixed income and lead, private markets Geof Marshall.

GSFM chief executive Damien McIntyre said the launches come amid heightened demand from Australian investors seeking global private market products.

"The underlying funds' size provides a significant competitive advantage. This immediately gets the GSFM funds to scale, providing access to a range of superior opportunities and attractive pricing that is not available to smaller funds," McIntyre said.

"With as little as a $50,000 investment in a CI Private Markets Fund, Australian investors can access a curated selection of leading private markets funds across all five major private market sectors, with active portfolio management and disciplined rebalancing.

"This provides immediate diversification by manager, vintage and geography - an outcome that is incredibly hard to achieve if you don't have the scale to access and the ability to evaluate the world's top-tier managers."

Lewis said these funds removed the barriers to private market investments.

"The CI Global Private Market Funds offer Australian investors the ability to not only invest outside of public markets, but into a multi-manager and multi-sector portfolio of private assets to better diversify their private market allocation," Lewis said.

"Private markets are expected to grow to around US$30 trillion by 2029, making this asset class hard to ignore for investors. GSFM's clients are showing heighted interest in private market investments, given this expected growth from the asset class and the need to diversify investments outside of public markets.

"Both strategies have a strong track record. They are fund-of-funds solutions that provide exposure to a diversified set of private market funds managed by leading and emerging private market managers."

McIntyre added: "Until now, Australian investors have struggled to implement the same asset allocation discipline in their private investing as they do on the listed side. Everyone believes in diversification but it's difficult to get access to the best managers in the world, let alone understand how to combine them efficiently."

"These funds now give Australian investors the opportunity to diversify properly across the entire private markets universe - not just pick a few well-known brands and hope they all fit together."