The company, which markets regulated funds to the international ex-pat IFA market, hopes to form further partnerships with asset management firms over the coming years.
Simons says a partnership allows a fund house to expand its client-base to previously unexplored jurisdictions and retail markets, where regulation permits.
Acorn has already formed a partnership with London-based Guinness Asset Management, which is regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.
It has marketed products such as the Guinness Global Equity Income Fund and the Guinness Global Innovators Fund to the offshore IFA space. Simons estimates that over 80% of expat IFA firms now allocate to these funds to some extent.
“Every single IFA and their clients had had a bad experience from at least one fund, many of which had gone bust or been suspended or gated, but also many of which had poor performance in comparison to the sectors or the markets they were in,” he said.
“The asset managers really making a mark, those that are top quartile performing funds in their sectors year in year out, are those that still run hundreds of millions of dollars but just don’t have that level to afford an international retail sales team, and rightly so are concerned about keeping their expense capital low to maximise performance and profitability of the funds they manage.
“We get to work with asset managers and investment funds we truly believe in and love to recommend and educate people on, the adviser gets informed about some better performing and regulated funds that are available to them, and the investors, should it fit their risk profile and match their investment needs, get to invest in what we consider to be some of the consistently top performing and better quality funds that they previously did not have an opportunity to do.”
