Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) has announced it will shed a number of jobs in its distribution division after its business model failed to capture interest in the Australian market.
The firm announced it will restructure its Australian operations because the more generalist one-stop shop business model they adopted did not suit the needs of local investors.
"We came to realise that when an Australian client comes to talk to us they want to talk to the product specialists or portfolio managers, directly. So we decided there wasn't much value in having generalists, or product aggregators that advise them on a wide range of products," AllianzGI Australia chief executive Cristobal Mendez de Vigo said.
"This obviously has consequences to the distribution staff. The restructuring has nothing to do with these people individually or professionally."
He said the AllianzGI was adapting the business model to the specifics of the Australian market.
"Investors said they wanted a change to a stand alone model for our funds. That means the investment firms in the stable of Allianz Global Investors in the equities side will continue their operations in Australia, but act independently."
The managers that will be affected are RCM, Oppenheimer Capital and Nicholas Applegate. Allianz GI will continue to provide some corporate services support but the distribution function will be reassigned back to the individual investment managers.
"This will take a number of months as we need to work with our clients and consultants to ensure the transition is smooth and seamless to them," Mendez de Vigo said.
AllianzGI closed a number of funds and unit trusts in the last nine months that were non-core to the group's objectives.
"This earlier move was about ensuring focus of our resources. Our view is that if you are not credible on core assets in this market it becomes difficult to achieve market acceptance for more exotic products," Mendez de Vigo said.
Allianz GI was formerly known as Allianz Dresdner Asset Management.
