Philip King stages transition to retirement

Regal Funds Management's Philip King has handed in his notice period, announcing his retirement strategy that will see his departure in 2027.

Regal said King will remain with the company until at least June 30 of next year, ensuring an orderly transition of responsibilities and continuity for clients and investors.

King is also the chief investment officer of Regal's long-short equity strategies and manages about 16% of Regal's total funds under management, which stands at $21.4 billion.

"As part of this staged succession process, there will be no immediate change to Mr King's current portfolio management responsibilities, or to the existing portfolio management responsibilities across Regal's broader long-short equities team," the ASX-listed company said.

Before Regal, King was a portfolio manager at London-based De Putron Fund Management (DPFM), specialising in relative value and special situations investment strategies, and worked as an equities analyst at Macquarie Bank for over five years. King is a former chartered accountant, starting his career at KPMG in 1987.

King was inducted into the Australian Fund Managers Hall of Fame in 2019.

"I am immensely proud of what we have achieved over the past two decades at Regal and I believe now is the right time to commence my transition toward retirement," King said.

"This decision reflects my confidence in the strength and depth of the investment leadership team whom I have worked alongside for many years, and the exceptional foundations that have been established across the business."

King added he will continue to manage his existing portfolios and support the business with the same focus, energy and passion for investing and will "retain a significant investment with Regal."

Regal Partners chief executive Brendan O'Connor said King had played a defining role in building the business.

"The board and senior leadership team, together with Phil have developed a transition plan that prioritises continuity for clients, shareholders and our people," O'Connor said.

The announcement comes as Regal reported about $1.4 billion in net client inflows for the six months to June 30.

One third of the $21.4 billion in funds under management (FUM) comes from institutional investors. Ten per cent comes from family offices and sophisticated investors, while 20% of FUM trace to advised clients.

Statutory net profit after tax for the group jumped 258% year on year to $94.1 million.

During the period, Regal seeded the Regal Partners Master Income Trust and Regal Partners Multi-Strategy Income Fund, a multi-strategy income fund for which the group is the investment manager and trustee.

"Multi-strategy products across the group continue to see increasing client demand and we are evolving our broader investment governance and oversight frameworks to support this growth.

"This includes the near-term establishment of a Regal investment committee, comprising Regal's most experienced investment leaders, which will oversee investment performance and governance across the breadth of our investment strategies and capabilities, and the allocation of capital across our multi-strategy products," O'Connor said.