Sean Fenton, one of Australia’s most experienced Australian equities long/short managers has announced the establishment of Sage Capital – an investment management boutique bringing to life Mr Fenton’s vision for a contemporary and specialised firm, which seeks to generate alpha over the long term through its unique investment approach combining fundamental and quantitative analysis.

Sage Capital is backed and supported by institutional-focused boutique incubator Channel Capital. Channel is providing the full suite of investment services, including distribution and Responsible Entity services through its incubation platform.  

The boutique is wholly owned by its directors and staff – four highly credentialled and experienced portfolio managers – Kelli Meagher, Peter Moore and James Delaney, who have all worked with Mr Fenton throughout his portfolio management career. Sage Capital’s two initial funds are also open for investment – the CC Sage Capital Equity Plus Fund, an Australian equities long/short strategy and the CC Sage Capital Absolute Return Fund, an absolute return strategy, both issued by Channel Investment Management Limited (a subsidiary of Channel Capital) as Responsible Entity.

Managing Director, Sean Fenton said “The formation of our firm marks the continuation of the investment management style that our team and I have been running over many years, with the dedication and discipline that is required to actively manage equities portfolios in today’s complex market environment. We seek to provide a solution for investors to help lower correlation to equity markets by holding both long and short positions – in a very risk controlled way.

Mr Fenton adds “Our differentiated stock selection process utilises two complementary sources of return, employing both a quantitative and a fundamental process. The objective of this process is to identify companies that will deliver superior earnings outcomes on an attractive risk/reward basis.  Diversification is a key attribute of the portfolio construction process and a suite of sophisticated risk management tools are employed to ensure that the impact of unexpected risks is minimised.

Long/short strategies have gained in popularity over the years as Australian investors have become more comfortable with strategies that involve short selling. The different structures can meet the needs of investor portfolios that allocate to equities for long term income and growth potential or given heightened market volatility and the need for capital protection and yield, provide a source of uncorrelated returns to the equity market.” he said.

Channel Capital’s Managing Director, Glen Holding said “We spend a great deal of time searching for differentiated investment teams of the highest quality, and we are pleased to have launched Sage Capital with Sean Fenton and his colleagues. The Sage Capital long/short strategies offer our clients investment options which provide diversification and the potential for uncorrelated returns within their portfolios.”  

Both funds are open for investment and may suit investors with a medium to long term investment horizon and who seek to complement existing long-only Australian equities portfolio exposures.