Published by Asia Asset Management – 12th Sep 2018
US asset manager Franklin Templeton Investments (Franklin Templeton) is teaming up with Hong Kong-based Asia Alternatives Management to form a private equity joint venture that will focus on offering fund-of-funds.
Franklin Templeton Private Equity (FTPE), which is scheduled to start operating officially in October, will provide investors with “bespoke global private equity fund-of-funds solutions”, Franklin Templeton says in a statement on September 10.
The company adds that it will be the majority shareholder in FTPE while Asia Alternatives Management and members of the joint venture’s management team will hold minority stakes.
The actual shareholding is not disclosed and a Franklin Templeton spokeswoman declines to share the details with Asia Asset Management, saying only that FTPE will “add a dedicated private equity fund-of-funds capability that is distinctly different from the company’s existing private equity capabilities”.
“Expanding our alternatives platform has been a core strategic initiative for Franklin Templeton,” Jenny Johnson, president and chief operating officer of the firm’s holding company, Franklin Resources, Inc., says in the statement.
She adds that the move to set up a dedicated private equity fund-of-funds business “demonstrates our ongoing commitment to developing private equity strategies that offer our clients unique asset exposures and return opportunities outside of the public markets”.
Arthur Wang, the former managing director of San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, will lead FTPE as managing partner, and will begin assembling his new team in October.
“Our private investment strategies will be structured to fill critical gaps in client portfolios,” Mr. Wang says in the statement.
According to Mr. Wang, he has “experienced firsthand how global private investments can enhance portfolio returns and diversification characteristics” and FTPE’s goal is to “create customised solutions to provide these benefits to a broad range of institutional investors”.
Asia Alternatives had over US$11 billion of capital under management at the end of July 2018.
Franklin Templeton had more than $733 billion of total assets under management as at July 31.
