Changes to the Fund

Changes to the Pendal International Share Fund (APIR: BTA0056AU, ARSN 087 593 299)

Investment Manager

We have decided to replace AQR Capital Management, LLC (AQR) as the investment manager of the Fund and appoint the Pendal Global Equities team.  The change will take place on or around 21 February 2020.

Pendal’s concentrated, benchmark agnostic investment process aims to add value through active bottom-up stock selection and fundamental company research, whilst AQR’s investment process employs quantitative investment strategies that aim to add value through active stock and industry selection and proprietary investment research. 

The Fund will continue to be an actively managed portfolio of global shares. The Fund will invest in companies that offer attractive investment opportunities predominantly in markets such as the USA, UK, Continental Europe, Asia and Japan. 

The new investment strategy has been implemented by the Pendal Global Equities team for the past 3 years. Further information about the team is provided below.

Why are we making the change?

We have decided to make this change because we believe it is in the best interests of investors to appoint the Pendal Global Equities team to manage the Fund, as a result of our ongoing review of the investment manager. Pendal’s investment process is expected to deliver an improved investment outcome, providing investors with better risk-adjusted returns over the medium to long term. 

Fund Name

We are also taking this opportunity, with effect from 21 February 2020, to rename the Fund as set out below:

Previous Name New Name
Pendal International Share Fund Pendal Concentrated Global Share Fund No.3

Management Fee and Buy-Sell spread

Effective 21 February 2020, the Fund’s management fee will decrease from 0.97% pa to 0.90% pa. At the same time, the Fund’s buy-sell spread will increase from 0.10% to 0.50%1  reflecting the higher brokerage costs expected to be incurred by the Fund following the change in investment process.

Distribution frequency 

The Fund’s distribution frequency will change from quarterly to annual. Effective 21 February 2020, the Fund will generally pay distributions at the end of June each year. 

What will stay the same?

The Fund’s benchmark will continue to be the MSCI World ex Australia (Standard) Index (Net Dividends) in AUD and the Fund will still aim to provide a return (before fees, costs and taxes) that exceeds this benchmark over the medium to long term.

About Pendal Global Equities team

The Pendal Global Equities team is led by Ashley Pittard. Ashley was appointed as Head of Pendal’s Global Equities boutique in 2016 and is responsible for setting the strategy, processes and risk management for both the boutique and funds managed within it. 

Ashley’s experience in the finance industry spans over 24 years, including 20 years as a global equities fund manager.

The five person Global Equities team is organised on an industry basis and has an average finance industry tenure of over 10 years. The team are also able to utilise Pendal Group’s global resources including those of J O Hambro Capital Management Limited (100% owned by the Pendal Group), an investment manager with offices in London, Singapore, New York and Boston.

You can access information on Pendal’s global equity strategy on our website, at https://www.pendalgroup.com/concentrated-global-share-fund/. 

[1] The buy-sell spread is retained by the Fund (it is not a fee paid to Pendal) and represents a contribution to the transaction costs incurred by the Fund such as brokerage and stamp duty, when the Fund is purchasing and selling assets.

This article has been prepared by Pendal Fund Services Limited (PFSL) ABN 13 161 249 332, AFSL No 431426 and the information contained within is current as at November 22, 2019. It is not to be published, or otherwise made available to any person other than the party to whom it is provided. 

This article is for general information purposes only, should not be considered as a comprehensive statement on any matter and should not be relied upon as such. It has been prepared without taking into account any recipient’s personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of this, recipients should, before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness having regard to their individual objectives, financial situation and needs. This information is not to be regarded as a securities recommendation. 

The information in this article may contain material provided by third parties, is given in good faith and has been derived from sources believed to be accurate as at its issue date. While such material is published with necessary permission, and while all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information in this article is complete and correct, to the maximum extent permitted by law neither PFSL nor any company in the Pendal group accepts any responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of this information. 

Any projections contained in this article are predictive and should not be relied upon when making an investment decision or recommendation. While we have used every effort to ensure that the assumptions on which the projections are based are reasonable, the projections may be based on incorrect assumptions or may not take into account known or unknown risks and uncertainties. The actual results may differ materially from these projections.