Fund manager Jun Bei Liu announced plans to start her own company while migrating the $1.5 billion Tribeca Alpha Plus fund, which will continue to be managed under her leadership with the same strategy.
Liu began his career at the firm as an analyst in 2005, covering sectors including healthcare, retail and media, before becoming co-portfolio manager of the Tribeca Alpha Plus Fund in 2016 and take full control of the fund in 2019.
Liu confirmed that she has the support of Tribeca CEO David Aylward, who will join her new company’s advisory board in early 2025.
“I like to draw on his decades of experience in the financial market, both here in Australia and around the world, so I look forward to that,” she said.
Liu will lead the new company with a team of “smart and experienced” investment analysts, although a name change to the Tribeca Alpha Plus Fund is planned.
A new business partner is also expected to come on board, she said, but noted that more details will be provided next month, ahead of the company’s official launch in mid-January.
Liu noted that his decision coincides with a pivotal moment in the asset management industry.
A Morningstar study earlier this year found Australian asset managers face challenges including net outflows, growing popularity of ETFs and fee pressures that are contributing to a decline in their rankings.
A number of funds have closed shop in recent months, including small-cap manager NovaPort Capital in May, ethical fund manager Ethical Partners in July and specialist income manager Wheelhouse Investment Partners in September.
Others have been forced to merge, particularly those of smaller scale.
However, Liu remains unfazed. She is convinced that there will remain room for active managers who can deliver on their investment promises.
“We’ve always believed that if you’re a good performer, if you’re a good, active manager, you’ll always have good support. We have seen over the last five and a half years that we have received streams of support from both institutional, retail and wholesale levels. On the contrary, we found that we were receiving a lot of inbound flows from a large number of customers, even internationally,” she said.
“So I truly believe that if we can deliver the performance we promised consistently, the market may change, but we will continue to actively take market share.”
As Australian and global markets increasingly embrace passive strategies, Liu sees a “fantastic opportunity” for remaining active managers to step up and capture market share.
“Personally, my job is to deliver the performance I promised my clients and that’s my end of the deal.
“So if an active manager can’t deliver active performance, it’s really hard to justify. Also, when you fail to deliver, there will be pressure on fees,” she said.
Liu added: “I want to build the best team, dedicated and very specialized in what I do, and get the best people to do their best. That’s why I’m really excited about this company.
The Tribeca Alpha Plus Fund aims to achieve long-term outperformance of the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulator Index by investing in long and short positions in listed Australian equities, using a mix of quantitative investment strategies and fundamental.
The fund returned 28 per cent in the 12 months to September, beating the benchmark’s return of 21 per cent. Since its inception, it has generated a return of 11.32 percent, compared to a return of 7.17 percent for the benchmark index.
Reflecting on its strong track record, Liu said the fund’s long-short strategy played an important role in allowing it to be receptive to opportunities.
“Our ability to be agile and pragmatic in managing our downside hedging has really helped us generate very consistent performance. »
