Stonehorn Global Partners will be headed by Sam Le Cornu and backed by Australia’s Trawalla Capital

Three founding members of Macquarie’s Asian Listed Equities division have re-joined forces to establish Stonehorn Global Partners and launch the Stonehorn Asia Equity Fund.

• Asia – Rigorous due diligence and disciplined investment process.
• Unconstrained – Benchmark, sector, country and market-cap agnostic.
• High-conviction – Approximately 30 Stocks in MSCI Asia ex-Japan.
• ESG and corporate governance focus –Sustainable and responsible investing.
• Experienced team – Managed over AUD$4.0bn, worked together in Asia for nearly 10 years.
• Alignment of interests – Partnership mindset, staff invest alongside clients.

Sam Le Cornu, the former Head of Investments, Executive Director and Co-Head of Macquarie’s Asian Listed Equities business, will lead Stonehorn and is joined by co-founders Duke Lo and John Lam. Having previously worked together for almost 10 years, the team holds a consistent and successful track record in co-managing over AUD$4.0bn.

The Stonehorn team is launching a billion-dollar, actively managed, high conviction and totally unconstrained Asia ex-Japan long only equities portfolio. Their concentrated strategy will hold an average of 30 positions while being unconstrained in terms of sector, country and market cap. They will be based on-the-ground in Hong Kong, where they will leverage their local networks, language skills and high-level access to Asia’s leading companies. All investments are carefully selected by cross-checking investment assumptions, conducting face-to-face management discussions, thoroughly analysing financial accounts and carrying out deep-dive industry checks. Their solid investment process focuses on robust corporate governance checks, addressing Environmental, Social and Governance concerns whilst strongly navigating the many risks specific to Asia.

Le Cornu’s, Lo’s and Lam’s previous record together is very strong. Le Cornu was named ‘Chief Investment Officer of the Year’ two years running by the prestigious Asia Asset Management Journal.[i] The strategies they oversaw within Macquarie consistently posted strong absolute and relative performance for nearly a decade. This included the high profile ‘Macquarie Asia New Stars’ Fund that won numerous Lipper performance awards over the years, Best Emerging Markets and Regional Fund Zenith (Australia), Fund Manager of the Year – Global Equities Category Money Management and Fund Selector Asia, Asia Pacific Equity Platinum Winner, Best Fund of the year.[ii]

Le Cornu says “I’m extremely excited to be working again with John and Duke to create an Asian boutique asset management firm which has a true partnership-mindset, sees its investment team invest its own money alongside its clients, and has fully-aligned interests with their clients as well.”

Lam adds, “Our investment approach is the same as what we did in the last decade. The principles behind how we organize ourselves are also the same. What will be different this time is the environment, market inefficiencies will always exist, and all it really does is further set apart the good managers from the mediocre.”

Lo adds “At Stonehorn we believe that unity, teamwork and team stability forges strong team culture. Clients know what they get with us, we seek their deserved-trust as we will always remain open, honest and transparent. It’s been our ability to work together effectively for ten-years that enables us to draw the best out of each other and deliver our best performance for our clients.”

Underpinning the venture is Trawalla Capital, a private investment firm of the Melbourne-based Schwartz Family Office, headed by Alan and Carol Schwartz. Trawalla Capital is a shareholder in Stonehorn and will be a significant investor in the inaugural Fund.

“We have long believed the Asian market presents tremendous opportunity for Australian investors, who we think are currently underweight in their asset allocation to Asia (ex-Japan) equities. We believe in long term investing and the stronger economic growth in Asia, relative to developed markets, will continue to drive returns and draw capital to the region over the long term.”

“We are therefore delighted to be partnering with Sam, John and Duke. They are established leaders who are proven in their field, whose values and approach are strongly aligned with our own. Stonehorn’s team leverage their unique networks and local presence to ensure investments are made in only the highest quality companies with a focus on strong corporate governance. We are very excited by the opportunity to be a major investor in their first fund.” Mr Schwartz said.

“Stonehorn Global Partners will be Trawalla Capital’s third portfolio company complementing Qualitas, a real estate investment management firm and Armitage Associates, a growth equity firm,” Mr Schwartz said.

The fund will initially be open to investment from institutional and wholesale investors in Asia, Europe and Australia, including high net-worth individual investors, family offices and institutions.

The fund is expected to be open to institutional and wholesale investors in April-June 2019.

About Stonehorn Global Partners

Stonehorn Global Partners is an Asia-based asset manager majority owned by its staff who believes that alignment of interest with clients is what builds sustainable partnerships. Stonehorn strives to create an environment of deserved trust with clients, shareholders, co-workers and business partners. Stonehorn’s founding members have partnered together in Asia for over 10 years and have a very successful track record investing in Asian equities. The team will be running the Stonehorn Asia Equity Fund (SEAF) a high-conviction actively-managed portfolio of Asian companies once it is authorised. The Stonehorn investment staff have built an extensive network of relationships with Asian companies, government bodies and industry contacts.

Website: www.stonehornpartners.com

About CEO & CIO, Sam Le Cornu

Sam Le Cornu is a multi-award-winning fund manager and experienced Chief Investment Officer and CEO with a strong track record of outperforming the Australasian equity markets for nearly two decades. Sam began his career in 2001 in Australia as an equity analyst at MMC Asset Management. In 2005 Sam joined Paradice Investments. In 2008 Sam co-established the Macquarie Asian Listed Equities (ALE) funds management division based in Hong Kong. At Macquarie Group, Mr Lecornu was an Executive Director, Co-Head of ALE and the Head of Investments. From a small team of founding members in 2008 and a single fund of under AUD$10m, by 2018 the business had grown to over AUD$4.0bn assets under management at its peak. Sam has managed portfolios for some of the world’s largest High Net-Worth (HNW) families, foundations, universities, endowments, corporate and industry superannuation and global wealth-managers.

About Trawalla Capital

Trawalla Capital partners with exceptional investment managers to co-create investment management firms. We provide patient capital, and work with our partners to convert their ambition and outstanding investment track record into successful and enduring businesses. Trawalla Capital is a private investment firm, owned by the Trawalla Group.

Website: www.trawallacapital.com.au

Disclaimer:

Trawalla Group Pty Ltd (Trawalla) (AFS representative number 001274047) is a corporate authorised representative of SLM Corporate Pty Ltd AFSL 224034. The distribution of this announcement may be restricted in certain jurisdictions and, accordingly, persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions. This announcement is not an invitation or offer of securities or any other financial product for subscription, purchase or sale in any jurisdiction, including for the avoidance of doubt, any jurisdiction in which such an offer or invitation is unlawful or unauthorised or in which the person deemed to be making such offer or invitation is not qualified to do so. The information contained in this announcement has been prepared for general information purposes only and should not be taken as constituting professional advice. It is not a recommendation to invest in the proposed Stonehorn Asia Equity Fund nor does not purport to be complete or contain all information which would be relevant to a prospective investor in the proposed Stonehorn Asia Equity Fund. Once the fund is open to investors, investors should obtain a copy of the prospectus which will be available at a future date and seek their own independent professional advice before making any financial or investment decision. Investors should also consider the appropriateness of any professional advice in the context of their own investment objectives, financial situation and needs. None of Trawalla, Stonehorn Partners or any of their related entities, associates, officers, employees, agents or advisers make any representation or warranty as to the fairness, accuracy, reliability, completeness or correctness of the information, opinions and conclusions contained in this announcement or as to the future returns or performance of the Stonehorn Asia Equity Fund. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Trawalla and Stonehorn Partners are not liable for any loss suffered or incurred as a result of an investor’s use of or reliance on the information contained in this announcement. This press release and any websites mentioned herein have not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

[i] Sam Le Cornu awarded Best of the Best Asia Asset Management CIO of the Year Winner Equity, Hong Kong of the year 2015 & 2014.

[ii] Macquarie Asia New Stars was awarded Fund Selector Asia, Asia Pacific Equity Platinum Winner, Best Fund of The Year, 2016.
Macquarie Asia New Stars was awarded Professional Planner/Zenith Awards Winner International Equities of The Year, 2014 & 2015.

Macquarie Asset Management was awarded Fund Manager of the Year Global Equities Category Money Management, 2014.