In a first for Equity Trustees, today the Loftus Peak ‘quoted fund’ was launched – a structure which is fast capturing the interest of fund managers keen to access a much broader retail investor market.
“Loftus Peak has been our client since 2016 when they launched the Loftus Peak Global Disruption Fund. Their success is underpinned by their willingness to explore new ways to attract investors. Structuring the Fund [ASX: LPGD] as a quoted fund provides distribution access to broker-directed clients – which in turn can mean access to the $730bn SMSF market,” said Harvey Kalman, Global Head of Business Development, Fund Services.
“We’re excited to be a part of this leading edge development because the new dual registry structure opens up a much larger retail market for our fund managers and offers a solution to overcoming the perennial issue in the listed investment vehicle market of units trading at discounts to the NTA,” Mr Kalman said.
Ensuring the fund was properly guided through the complexities of ASIC and ASX compliance processes efficiently was a critical precursor to its launch.
“As specialists in fund governance and compliance, we have been in a position to direct our expertise as a responsible entity (RE) to guide the fund through the checks and balances required by this innovative dual registry structure delivered by Mainstream Fund Services (Mainstream),” said Russell Beasley, Executive General Manager, Corporate Trustees Services (Australia).
“Our quoted fund solution ensures investors have the choice of investing through their broker or directly with the RE through our registry service, just like any other daily priced retail managed investment scheme. Once an investor owns units in the scheme, they are able to seamlessly convert from broker to issuer sponsored, and vice versa, as required.” said Nick Happell, CEO, Asia Pacific, Mainstream Fund Services.
A number of key considerations need to be explored by fund managers when planning the logistics of going to market with this new type of fund. This is where Equity Trustees’ Fund Services capability and two decades of experience as a RE enabled the process.
“Decisions which can make a difference include what market making arrangements are in place, which securities exchange the fund will be listed on, which service providers are selected to support the hybrid registry and the requirement for ensuring there are transparent pricing mechanisms in place at the time the fund launches,” explained Mr Beasley.
The Loftus Peak Global Distribution Fund is now listed on the ASX using the dual registry capabilities of Mainstream and included specialist legal advice from Baker McKenzie.
