Times are tough for listed asset managers as share price volatility, geopolitical shocks and a basic need to cover the cost of living combine to leave shareholder confidence at a low ebb.
However, some firms with specific niches seem to be holding the line. Take Petershill Partners (PHLL), the company that takes stakes in private equity and other alternative asset firms, which is 75 per cent owned by funds run by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Petershill’s chairman, Naguib Kheraj, recently made a purchase of 125,000 shares at an average price of £2.56, or a £319,000 total investment. His apparent confidence follows a debut set of results that showed the company acquired stakes in five firms with a value of $458mn (£370mn) – well ahead of a target of investing $100mn-$300mn a year through three to six deals.
Between them, the five investee firms – which included US buyout firms Arlington Capital Partners, Symphony Technology Group and Wind Point Partners – have assets under management of $20bn. The company expects to continue profiting from the growth in the alternative assets market, saying that it expects the businesses it has stakes in to increase fee-paying assets under management by $40bn this year.
The alternative assets industry is forecast to grow assets under management to more than $23.2tn by the end of 2026, up from $13tn currently according to data provider Preqin.
