A part of Watch Media

AMWatchMonday30 January 2023

  • Search
  • Log in
  • Fund Management
  • Pension
  • Responsible Investing
  • People
  • Search
  • Log in
  • Latest
  • Search
  • Log in
  • Fund Management
  • Pension
  • Responsible Investing
  • People
10/04/2017at 12:22

Danish asset manager lands Australian mandate worth DKK 6.8 billion

The Danish money manager C Worldwide continues to attract interest from Australia. The Danish asset manager has just landed an Australian mandate worth DKK 6.8 billion.
Bo Knudsen is CEO of C Worldwide and Managing Director of Global Equities. | Photo: PR
BY ANNE LOUISE HOUMANN

With just one move, the total wealth under management at C Worldwide has grown by DKK 6.8 billion (EUR 914 million). The money comes from one unnamed Australian client, and the whole amount went into C Worldwide's global equity portfolio in March.

C Worldwide was until recently known as Carnegie Asset Management, a money manager owned by Swedish private equity company Altor and employees, and founded in 1986.

C Worldwide hasn't previously disclosed the new mandate publicly, but Chief Executive Bo Knudsen told FW Asset Management about  the deal at an interview at the company's office in Copenhagen.

"We just signed a deal for DKK 6.8 billion with an Australian client on global stocks," Bo Knudsen told FWAM.

A visit in 2007

The asset manager's connection to Australia is nothing new. In fact, Australia is C Worldwide's second largest market today after the Danish.

"It began in this very room," said Knudsen, seated in a conference room, overlooking the Copenhagen waterfront.

"In 2007, we had a visit from a very large Australian fund. They thought we had an interesting track record and history. They were looking – and are always looking – for new, interesting managers."

Despite the interest from the Australian fund, Knudsen himself was not very interested at first.

"I said relatively early on during the meeting that I wanted to make two things clear. One was that they should not expect us to come to Australia, because we thought it was too far away. Secondly, we didn't find stocks on the Australian market very interesting, so we didn't want Australian stocks in our global fund," he says.

The 30 best stocks in the world

The Australian fund's interest was focused on the Danish asset manager's most famous product, its global equity portfolio, to which the new mandate for DKK 6.8 billion has gone.

The global equity portfolio has been a part of the asset manager's investment philosophy since the beginning in 1986: Finding the 30 best stocks in the world.

It is still like that. The global equity portfolio consists of 30 stocks.

"Our goal is to find the 30 best stocks in the world. We value growth, so we believe fundamentally that what drives stock market prices in the long run is revenue growth. It's a truism, but you tend to forget it when you sit in the eye of the hurricane and news is pouring in," says Knudsen, as he has been saying ever since he was hired in 1994.

But back in 2007 it was almost like refusing money, he says.

However, the initial rejection did not seem to scare away the big Australian fund that was interested in getting to know the Danish asset manager better.

"Three years went by, during which they analyzed us, and there was a lot of turbulence during that time," says Knudsen.

Carnegie Asset Management, as it was then known, was previously part of the Swedish investment bank Carnegie, but separated into an independent company when the private equity company Altor bought the Carnegie group out of the Swedish state, which had taken over the investment bank after it collapsed in 2008 during the global financial crisis.

"From 2007 to 2010, when they funded us, the investment bank went through a lot of turbulence in 2009. They gave us a small mandate, and today they are one of our biggest clients. It was also a beginning in reference to establishing ourselves in Australia," he says.

Australian partnership

The Danish asset manager has since expanded its Australian relations, and in 2012 it entered a collaboration agreement with BNP Paribas Investment Partners.

"They concentrate on finding the best managers, and they are our contact point with the client, making sure to bring us into play. So they take a lot of the daily work, considering the nine-hour time difference," says Knudsen, not willing to unveil the identity of the investor behind the new mandate.

He travels to Australia himself twice a year, and other colleagues of his visit the continent yearly.

C Worldwide has more than DKK 100 billion under management today. About 70 percent of that amount is in the global equity portfolio. Retail investors have since 1990 had the opportunity to invest via the investment fund C Worldwide Global Equities.

English Edit: Marie Honoré

Sign up for our newsletter

Stay ahead of development by receiving our newsletter on the latest sector knowledge.

!
Newsletter terms

Front page now

Foto: PR/Storebrand/SPP
Fund Management

Swedish fund manager snaps CEO from Storebrand Fonder

Following more than six years as CEO of Sweden’s Storebrand Fonder, Åsa Wallenberg will move to a slightly smaller competitor this summer.
  • Storebrand Fonder provides more than three-quarters of Swedish fund inflow
  • Storebrand AM: We need to put the loss of nature high on the agenda

For subscribers

DNB Markets’ Chief of Sustainable Finance Thomas Hemmestad | Photo: Sebastian Holsen | Foto: Sebastian Holsen
Responsible Investing

DNB lists reasons why European green bond standard left in limbo

For subscribers

AMNews

Backtracking on ESG classification erodes impact investing's credibility, veteran warns

For subscribers

Foto: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix
AMNews

The bond-market comeback of 2023 is heading to first big test

For subscribers

Magnus Vie Sundal, portfolio manager at Borea Asset Management. | Photo: Borea Asset Management PR
Fund Management

Speciality manager in Norway grew its AUM by 13% in difficult year

For subscribers

Pension firms can play a significant role in steering companies into a more sustainable direction, says SPP and Storebrand Head of Sustainability, Johanna Lundgren Gestlöf. | Foto: Jonas Eng
AMNews

Two additional pension firms join the green club in Swedish sustainability rankings

For subscribers

Further reading

Magnus Vie Sundal, portfolio manager at Borea Asset Management. | Photo: Borea Asset Management PR
Fund Management

Speciality manager in Norway grew its AUM by 13% in difficult year

Most Norwegian fund managers noted a decline in assets under management last year. A relatively small firm achieved an entirely new market level in 2022.

For subscribers

Speed is of the essence when launching new investment products, CFO Masih Yazdi says. | Foto: PR / SEB
Fund Management

SEB aims for speedy product launches to make up for huge AUM drop in 2022

The loss of a SEK 50bn mandate affected SEB’s AUM performance last year. Looking ahead, CFO Masih Yazdi believes that alternatives and fixed income will be important investment areas.

For subscribers

Idleness plagues Danish mall City Vest, a problem a new buyer now has to solve | Photo: Gregers Tycho
Pension

ATP and Danica sell shopping mall with hefty discount

At the turn of the year, City Vest in Denmark’s second-largest city Aarhus was sold at a significantly lower price than an official assessment of its value. Still, the seller, Danske Shoppingcentre, is satisfied to steer clear of comprehensive investments.

For subscribers

Latest news

  • Swedish fund manager snaps CEO from Storebrand Fonder – 14:41
  • DNB lists reasons why European green bond standard left in limbo – 14:06
  • The bond-market comeback of 2023 is heading to first big test – 12:59
  • ATP and Danica sell shopping mall with hefty discount – 10:50
  • Backtracking on ESG classification erodes impact investing's credibility, veteran warns – 10:30
  • Goldman’s Solomon joins CEOs taking pay cuts after laying off thousands – 09:29
  • Speciality manager in Norway grew its AUM by 13% in difficult year – 07:52
  • Two additional pension firms join the green club in Swedish sustainability rankings – 27 Jan
  • Investors are missing earnings data after 2022 IPO collapse – 27 Jan
  • Danes' equity holdings shrank by 9% in 2022 – 27 Jan
See all

Jobs

  • PenSam søger en jurist med interesse for den finansielle sektor

  • Porteføljemanager til danske ejendomme i PenSam

Watch Jobs

  • People and Operations Partner

  • Senior Porteføljemanager

  • Business Change Manager til implementering af fremtidens togs uddannelsesprojekter

  • Jurister søges til Corporate Legal i Danmarks Eksport & Investeringsfond

  • Head of Business Development

See all jobs

Jobs

  • PenSam søger en jurist med interesse for den finansielle sektor

  • Porteføljemanager til danske ejendomme i PenSam

See all jobs

Colophon

AMWatch
Search

Sections

  • Fund Management
  • Pension
  • Responsible Investing
  • People
  • Sitemap
  • RSS feeds

Editor

Anne Louise Houmann

alh@amwatch.dk

Tel.: +45 2830 5142

Editor-in-chief

Anders Heering

Publisher

JP/Politiken Media Group Ltd

Advertising

annoncering@infowatch.dk

Tel.: +45 7077 7491

Advertising

Job Advertising

job@infowatch.dk

Tel.: +45 7077 7491

Jobs

Subscription

Try AMWatch or get an offer for a subscription meeting the exact needs of you or your company.

amwatch@infowatch.dk

Tel.: +45 7077 7491

Learn more about subscriptions here

Address

AMWatch

Rådhuspladsen 37

1785 Copenhagen K, Denmark

Tel.: +45 3330 8382

Guidelines

  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © AMWatch — All rights reserved

Microsoft is in the process of discontinuing Internet Explorer – and so are we.
For a better experience, we recommend using one of the following browsers.

Kind regards,
AMWatch

Google ChromeMozilla FirefoxMicrosoft Edge