Toronto-based money manager Sceptre Investment Counsel has formed a cross-border joint venture with New York-based hedge fund manager Fairfield Greenwich Group that allows for the development of the first structured note for Sceptre’s clients. The goal is to bring to market a note that charges a ‘reasonable price’ for capital protection. “…investors are paying far too much [for principal-protected notes],” Sceptre MD Tom Czitron told SRP.While Sceptre will initially focus on offering its clients access to FGG-managed hedge funds, principal-protected structured notes are on the firm’s wish list for later this year, said Czitron.
The alliance allows Sceptre, with $9.5bn in assets under supervision, to tap into a variety of single-manager and multi-strategy hedge funds and funds of hedge funds for its wealthy retail and institutional Canadian clients. FGG has $16.6bn in client and firm assets under management.
Sceptre Investment Counsel is a publicly traded Canadian company which manages seven mutual funds and nine institutional asset pools, in addition to providing wealth management services to high net worth investors. In December 2006 Sceptre acquired the $600m private client division of Legg Mason Canada, a move which significantly bolstered its private asset management business.
FGG celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and was originally formed by a former Chemical Bank executive who helped establish the bank’s private banking arm. He was later joined by two other partners. FGG has built its reputation on providing investment strategies and products that offer low correlation to broad markets, low relative leverage and with lower volatility than other asset classes.
