Select Asset Management (Select AM) plans to continue pursuing new opportunities for responsible entity (RE) roles, following the company’s latest acquisition in December 2012.
“There is nothing in the pipeline at the moment [but] there are a lot of opportunities that are around in the market and, opportunistically, we will look at things,” Select AM chief operating officer and head of fund services Alex Wise told InvestorDaily.
In December, Select AM announced the company’s acquisition of Australian financial services business Total Fund Services (TFS) for an undisclosed amount.
TFS, which provides regulatory services to Australian managed investment schemes, acting as a ‘responsible entity for hire’ to registered schemes and similar investment vehicles, was integrated into Select Fund Services (Select FS).
Select AM’s current core focus is to complete on-boarding transactions from the latest acquisition before taking any further steps, Wise explained.
“We are already out talking to investment managers about roles as a responsible entity and trustee,” Wise said.
“So, over the coming year, I would envisage those conversations to develop. We are hoping that [we can] on-board some other business over the first early to second quarter.”
Elsewhere in the business, the focus is also on building the joint venture alliance with Winston Capital Partners by providing fund structuring and RE for those managers they are seeking to market in Australia.
“Team growth is [also] definitely an option, going forward, and as we on-board new clients we’ll definitely be looking to expand our fund services capability,” Mr Wise said.
“We’re ideally positioned to nurture and grow our business, providing third party asset managers a package of ‘RE for hire’ services and distribution services through Winston Capital Partners, our alliance partner,” Mr Wise said at the time.
“Such asset managers typically focus on managing the money and welcome the support of dedicated experienced professionals to provide support on governance and operational matters,” he said.
The TFS acquisition increased Select FS’s funds under administration to more than $850m.
