GSFM to offer new Europe-focused strategies to Aussie investors

Sydney-based investment firm GSFM will partner with Access Capital Partners (ACP) to distribute its Europe-focused investment strategies – the ACP European infrastructure and European smaller buy-outs funds.

GSFM chief executive Damien McIntyre welcomed the firm’s decision to partner with ACP, acknowledging the multinational investment firm’s “highly experienced investment team” and “deep knowledge of the European infrastructure and smaller buyout markets”. ACP maintains offices in Paris, London, Brussels, Munich, Helsinki and Luxembourg.

McIntyre added: “GSFM’s strategy is to partner with high-calibre investment managers in Australia and overseas, to deliver differentiated, quality investment strategies that are not widely available to investors in the Australian market.

“The addition of ACP to our existing fund manager line-up means we can offer a new and different asset class of European private assets to investors.”

He said the infrastructure investment strategy is focused on stable brownfield European assets across the energy, renewables, telecommunications, transportation, utilities, and social infrastructure sectors.

The smaller buy-outs strategy, meanwhile, actively invests in the best-performing teams managing funds of less than €1 billion in size, targeting sub-€100 million enterprise value companies at entry.

The ACP strategies will be made available locally, GSFM said, to its institutional and wholesale investors and family offices.

Phillippe Poggioli, managing partner of ACP, said the “partnership was strategically important for the firm as it expands its reach outside of Europe, and delivers the benefits of European asset exposure to Australian investors”.

ACP was established in 1998 as an independent private asset manager and invests in key economies in Western Europe. The firm is responsible for €14 billion (AU$23 billion) in assets under management.

GSFM, which specialises in marketing funds, was established in 2007 as a subsidiary of the Grant Samuel Group. Canadian wealth manager CI Financial Corp (CI) purchased an 80 per cent stake in the business in 2016, which was previously held by Grant Samuel. The firm reports $8.5 billion in funds under management.