Martin Currie (Holdings) Ltd (Bermuda) was created in October 2007 as the parent company of Martin Currie Ltd, the holding company of five wholly owned, fully operational subsidiaries. The companies are:
Martin Currie Investment Management Ltd (investment management services for all non-US clients, including pension funds and charities)
Martin Currie Inc (investment management services for North American clients including pension funds, foundations and mutual fund clients)
Martin Currie Unit Trusts Ltd (authorised Corporate Director of a UK open-ended investment company)
Martin Currie (Bermuda) Ltd (manages offshore investment funds)
Martin Currie Investor Services Inc (US broker/dealer registered with FINRA)
Locations:
Edinburgh (investment team and head office)
London
New York
Shanghai
Melbourne
Singapore
Zurich
Date of incorporation of Parent company:
Partnership founded in 1881, incorporated as Martin Currie Ltd in 1985 and Martin Currie (Holdings) Ltd (Bermuda) created in October 2007, the parent company of Martin Currie Limited
Martin Currie is a specialist investment management business. From our headquarters in Edinburgh, we manage £10.5 billion (US$15.7 billion)* in active equity portfolios for a global client base of financial institutions, charities, foundations, endowments, pension funds, family offices, government agencies and investment funds. Our pooled funds include an Oeic, Sicav, offshore mutual funds and a range of absolute return funds.
We are a private company, owned and managed by our full-time employees. We believe that employee-ownership confers stability, minimises corporate distractions and helps us to attract and retain talent. We are committed to remaining independent, and see this as critical to the future success of Martin Currie.
*As at 30 June 2010
What makes Martin Currie different?
We describe Martin Currie as 'The Big Boutique'. In its broadest sense, this means having the solidity, professionalism and robustness of process of a large company, combined with the distinctiveness, client focus and personal ownership of a small company.
Ownership and culture Our ownership model and culture sit at the core of the business, and reflect our boutique qualities. Directors and staff own the significant majority of the company's equity, and we have a culture that is collegiate, focused and driven by a shared commitment to succeed for our clients.
Professional business management Managing the business in a disciplined and professional way is one of the 'big' aspects of 'The Big Boutique'. We have experienced teams in areas such as client service, marketing, sales, finance and human resources. We also have well-defined business processes, a proven operational and compliance infrastructure and the discipline to manage asset capacity to protect returns for our clients.
Our goal is to offer high-quality, detailed and timely reporting that exceeds the expectations of our clients. Our objective is to provide a comprehensive disclosure of what we do and why we do it, thereby facilitating a greater understanding of our investment process and ultimately a better relationship.
A high-quality investment platform We have experienced and deeply resourced teams covering sector research, risk management, dealing and performance measurement. These are areas where we rival some of the biggest firms in terms of the resources we provide to support our portfolio managers.
Key to the success of our investment strategies has been the development of our risk-management framework. Our risk objectives are entwined with our performance goals, and our risk managers work in partnership with our portfolio managers. We seek to optimise trade-offs to ensure that we meet our return objectives, control the volatility of these returns, track underlying stock liquidity and identify and manage macro-factor risk.
Focused and distinctive product groups We have eight focused teams managing portfolios. They share a common language and philosophy, but have the freedom to shape their own investment strategies to meets the needs of our clients. Portfolio managers work closely with our research and risk management teams in a fluid and efficient way to ensure the best ideas are reflected in clients' portfolios in a way that will add real value for our clients.
WHY MARTIN CURRIE IS DISTINCTIVE: Click on the links below for more detail
87% of funds invested internationally 68% of funds managed for clients outside the UK Offices in Edinburgh, London, New York, Shanghai and Melbourne. Planning to open offices in Switzerland and Singapore in 2009
We are an international business for international clients. Our global network of client service offices help us remain close to clients and their needs.
128 year old firm 26 investment directors, with average investment experience of 18 years, and an average of 10 years with the firm
Our Chief Investment Officer, the MD of our investment team and our head of sector research have all worked together for 19 years
Significant corporate experience through senior management team and non-executive directors.
We have the experience and judgment to make the right investment decisions for our clients.
Our leadership team has the experience, skills and perspective to manage the business through the cycle.
Synthesis of regional and sector research
Returns driven by stock-picking
We focus on the four 'pillars' of quality, value, growth and change
Risk-adjusted returns are central to our investment philosophy
Our single investment location supports effective decision-making
We make connections that others miss. These lead to superior investment decisions that add real value for our clients.
Performance-based remuneration at every level Disciplined approach to managing asset capacity Risk-based approach to everything we do ‘Big Boutique’ culture
Our policies, procedures and culture all align our interests with those of our clients. We only succeed if our clients succeed.
Who are Martin Currie's clients? Today we manage money for investors in 24 countries, and we are organised to serve clients on a global basis. Around two-thirds of our clients by value are located in the UK and North America, markets where we have long-established businesses. Over the past 10 years we have expanded our client base to Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
We also have a diverse range of clients by type, from our traditional focus on pension funds, charities, endowments and foundations, to newer areas for the firm, such as wealth management, sub-advisory and government agencies.
We believe in being close to clients and their needs. That is why we service our clients from multiple offices around the world. We plan to further extend this network in 2009, with new offices in Switzerland and Singapore. These will better enable us to support our growing client bases in these areas.
What products does Martin Currie offer?
Managing specialist active equity portfolios is our only business. We make these available on a segregated and pooled basis, and in a variety of product structures, to meet the needs of investors around the world.
We manage three principal strategy types, each defined by its own risk framework:
Core Index relative, targeting incremental outperformance of a defined benchmark within a pre-determined risk framework.
Alpha Unconstrained, targeting significant outperformance over a cycle. Risk aware, but not risk constrained.
Absolute return Targets a real return above cash with low absolute drawdowns.
What is Martin Currie's investment philosophy and process?
Investment management is Martin Currie's only business. Within this, we focus exclusively on managing active equity portfolios, and devote all of our resources to getting this right. We believe that:
Equity markets are inefficient, and offer skilled investment managers the opportunity to outperform.
Most investors place too much emphasis on stories, and not enough on facts.
Most market participants systematically underestimate the extent and duration of change.
We organise and resource our investment team to enable us to identify, evaluate and exploit change for the benefit of our clients.
How has Martin Currie grown?
On 23 April we announced the latest financial results for Martin Currie Ltd covering the year to 31 December 2008 and reported:
An annual operating profit of £32.6 million for the year, up from £25.6 million the year before (+27%); and
A fall in revenue of 16% year on year, but a reduction in our cost base by 24% over the same period with minimal headcount reduction.
The roots of this success go back to 2001, when Martin Currie recruited a new chief executive, Willie Watt, from private equity firm 3i group. With a clear vision for the business and an ambitious strategy for growth, the company underwent an extensive programme of change. This included:
Refocusing the business by concentrating exclusively on managing active equity portfolios;
Strengthening and reorganising our investment team;
Developing the company's range of products;
Re-branding Martin Currie to reflect the renewed vibrancy of the business; and
The company aims to develop its business in ways compatible with being 'The Big Boutique'. "We don't intend becoming the biggest, but we do intend to be the best." - Willie Watt, chief executive.
We believe that these headline figures provide a clear demonstration that we were both early to recognise the seriousness of the 2008 financial crisis and swift to act. In addition, they serve as a strong endorsement of the robustness, durability and adaptability of our business model. A copy of Martin Currie's annual report and accounts is available below.
Company overview - Q1 2010
