ANZ today announced the launch of the Graphene Alternative Fund, an absolute return strategy for high net worth (HNW) investors that is custom designed and managed by Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing (BXMA).
The fund is a first for the Australian HNW market and is available exclusively to ANZ Private clients. Blackstone is the world's largest alternative asset manager, responsible for more than $US1trillion in alternative assets under management.
ANZ Private Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Lakshman Anantakrishnan, said: "The strategy culminates a broader change to ANZ Private's strategic asset allocation, which includes a doubling of our allocation to alternative assets."
The change is intended to prepare client portfolios for what Mr. Anantakrishnan expects will be an increasingly volatile environment for markets.
"In the decade ahead, we expect global markets to be transformed by major structural themes including disruptive technology, global demographics, and the green energy transition. We believe hedge funds will play an increasingly important role in multi-asset portfolios as investors look to navigate this change."
"Only a few global firms have the reach and scale to access the right alternative opportunities. The name Blackstone is synonymous with alternative investing, and we are delighted to bring a truly world-class, unique, and exclusive offering to our clients," Mr. Anantakrishnan said.
The strategy will be overseen by Joe Dowling, Global Head of BXMA and David Ben-Ur, CIO of BXMA's Absolute Return Platform.
Mr. Dowling said: "We are delighted to work with ANZ to build a customised absolute return fund to help ANZ's high net worth clients construct diversified portfolios. We are committed to creating customised, balanced, and resilient strategies for investors, which can thrive across multiple environments, and we are proud of the platform that we've created for ANZ's clients."
The Graphene Alternative Fund is a quarterly liquid solution that brings Blackstone's proprietary BXMA Absolute Return platform to ANZ's clients, including access to capacity constrained funds that are typically reserved for institutional mandates. The Fund is available only to ANZ Private clients in Australia who qualify as 'wholesale clients' under the Corporations Act.
