JPMAM wins CFS emerging markets, global equities mandates

J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has become the latest to join Colonial First State’s (CFS’) line-up of specialist portfolio manager partners, winning the investment mandates for its emerging markets and global shares strategies.

The two multi-manager single-sector options will leverage the equities expertise of JPMAM, through its own flagship Global Select and Global Emerging Markets Analyst strategies, offering strong research support and local market knowledge via its 80-strong team of analysts harnessing a “common valuation model that focuses on long-term fundamentals and covers over 2,500 stocks”.

“Our decision to appoint J.P. Morgan Asset Management to manage allocations within our global and emerging markets equity options reflects their depth of research capability and disciplined investment approach,” Jonathan Armitage, Chief Investment Officer at Colonial First State, said.

“Their strategies provide access to high-conviction stock ideas supported by extensive on-the-ground insights and a robust global research platform. This appointment aligns with our commitment to delivering strong, risk-aware outcomes for our members.”

A statement from CFS also confirmed that the process to select the underlying fund manager partners for its range of multi-manager funds involves a “rigorous due diligence process” that examines “capability, investment process and risk-management discipline”.

“We are delighted to be appointed and appreciate the strong engagement with CFS throughout the process,” Andrew Creber, Australia and New Zealand CEO at JPMAM, said.

“It was important for us to showcase our core investment strategy, where stock-level decisions serve as the primary alpha driver. The depth and breadth of our research team is our key differentiator as a leading global active manager and we are proud to see our active equities platform grow to be a multi-billion dollar business through the support of our Australian clients.

“All of us at JPMAM are excited by the opportunity to further extend our partnership with CFS.”