Magellan’s priority – attracting investment talent

Attracting new investment talent, including boutiques, has emerged top of the agenda for Magellan has it seeks to rebuild its position.

Just weeks after announcing the exit of chief executive, David George, Magellan executive chairman, Andrew Formica admitted that attracting new investment talent represented a priority and that this had been impeded by Magellan’s previous equity participation regime.

“An employee incentive plan is pivotal to retaining and attracting talent to our business, which is central to Magellan’s forward growth plans, and is necessary to establish Magellan as a home for exceptional talent,” Formica told the fund manager’s annual general meeting.

At the same time, Formica qualified last year’s stated company strategy of targeting $100 billion in assets under management, stating that it was not so much a target as part of a broader strategy that entails leveraging Magellan’s existing platform.

“…we are positioning Magellan for the next phase of its evolution – from a founder-led business into a more diversified global fund manager of scale that delivers exceptional investment performance for our clients,” Formica said.

He said that the key to achieving strong outcomes for clients was best-in-class talent”.

“So it is essential that Magellan becomes the home of the best talent in the market,” Formica said.

“With this in mind, we will nurture and develop our own in-house talent and capabilities, whilst we look to build upon the existing investment capabilities by strategically acquiring talented teams or boutiques that add to the intellectual capacity of the business aa a whole.”

Formica said that Magellan is actively in discussion with teams and talent that recognised that Magellan’s extensive platform and distribution capabilities were capable of fuelling their own future growth.