Betashares is poised for further acquisitions, geographical expansion and product launches after securing promises of A$300 million of new capital from Singapore government fund, Temasek, in a ‘binding agreement’ signed last week.
Alex Vynokur, Betashares chief, said the Temasek top-up would spur buy-outs as well as “organic” growth across “more products, services, and international markets”.
Over the last couple of years the Sydney-headquartered exchange-traded fund (ETF) specialist made its first foray offshore via NZ, bought an Australian superannuation fund and rolled-out a new direct-to-consumer investment platform. Betashares is now the second-largest ETF provider behind Vanguard, Australian press reported last week.
The group counts almost A$40 billion in assets under management with roughly NZ$100 million sourced from its recently launched NZ portfolio investment entity (PIE) funds.
As at the end of March, the six Betashares PIE funds reported about $30 million of retail money with a $65 million mandate from life insurer AIA NZ late last year adding to the pot.
Many NZ investors also have direct exposure to ASX-listed Betashares ETFs, most of which are offered in NZ under the trans-Tasman mutual recognition agreement.
Last year the manager appointed former Smartshares chief, Hugh Stevens, as NZ director.
It is understood Betashares will extend its PIE suite over time with direct ETF listings on the NZX also under discussion – a process potentially accelerated with the Temasek capital injection.
The almost US$290 billion Singaporean sovereign wealth fund joins US private equity firm, TA Associates, as a minority shareholder on the Betashares register with staff also owning a significant portion of the company. Betashares declined to reveal the share of ownership of either Temasek or TA Associates.
Temasek, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, has about a 50/50 split between listed and unlisted assets invested under a broad, flexible mandate.
In 2020 the Singapore fund emerged as a shareholder in the NZ-headquartered global investment administration firm, FNZ. More recently, Temasek wrote down US$275 million following the failure of the Bahamas-based crypto platform, FTX.
TA Associates is part-owner of multiple financial services businesses including several with NZ connections such as Russell Investments, Apex Group and Fisher Funds. Media reports surfaced last year suggesting TA was looking to offload its one-third stake in Fisher in a potential deal as yet unconsummated.
