First Sentier Investors, formerly known as

Colonial First State Colonial First State (CFS) is an Australian wealth management group that provides investment, superannuation and retirement products to individuals as well as corporate and superannuation fund investors. History The company was established in ...

Global Asset Management in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and First State Investments elsewhere, is a global

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as complex process or manufacturing plants, infrastr ...

business that manages US$146.2 billion (as at 31 December 2022) in assets managed on behalf of

institutional investor An institutional investor is an entity that pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked ...

pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides pension, retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the ...

s, wholesale distributors, investment platforms,

financial adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

s and clients worldwide. First Sentier Investors provides active, specialist investment capabilities managed by a group of independent investment teams. They take a long-term approach to investment with a focus on preserving capital and performance through market cycles. In August 2019,

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation is the trust banking arm of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a Japanese financial services group that is the largest in the world measured by assets. The bank is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The merger of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group ...

acquired the business from the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

. The company operates as a standalone global investment management business, with offices across

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

History

In October 2018, Mark Steinberg became CEO."The man leading Mitsubishi UFJ’s push in Australia"

; ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' (ft.com); 08-11-2020; retrieved on 22 January 2023 From 2000 until 2019, Colonial First State Global Asset Management was part of the

's Wealth Management Division. On 2 August 2019,

acquired the business. First Sentier retained its sub-brands Realindex Investments, FSSA Investment Managers, and Stewart Investors. In June 2019, women held 22% of the investment roles at the company, and 27% of senior leadership roles. In late 2019, the company rebranded from Colonial First State Global Asset Management to First Sentier Investors in Australia, while continuing to use the First State Investments brand globally. In September 2019 CFSGAM officially launched the rebrand to First Sentier Investors (FSI), with $222.7 billion in assets under management as of 30 June 2019. In September 2020, First State Investments also rebranded to First Sentier Investors, with the company for the first time using the same brand name both in Australia and globally. First Sentier invested in an infrastructure fund operated by Korea Investment & Securities in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

in September 2020, with the local investment firm Kiwoom Asset Management an underlying manager."Korea Investment sells First Sentier’s infra fund "

; ''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' () is a South Korean English-language daily newspaper founded in August 1953 and published in Seoul. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from i ...

'' (koreaherald.com); 27-09-2020; retrieved on 22 January 2023 In October 2020, it bought states in several electrical plants in the United Kingdom. In November 2020, the company was the second largest asset manager in Australia behind

Macquarie Group Macquarie Group Limited (), more commonly known as Macquarie Bank, is an Australian multinational investment banking and financial services group headquartered in Sydney and listed on the ASX (). Macquarie's investment banking division is Au ...

. It had operations in nine countries, with 17 investment teams, including an office in New York. In December 2021, First Sentier Investors purchased two Queensland

solar farm A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...

s, including the Gretel solar portfolio. They were added to Atmos Renewables, an investment company that First Sentier owned through its Global Diversified Infrastructure Fund. By the beginning of 2022, Atmos had also acquired several other First Sentier acquisitions, including

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

s in Australia"First Sentier buys BlackRock’s solar farms for Atmos Renewables"

; ''

Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

'' (afr.com); 15-02-2022; retrieved on 22 January 2023 in October 2020, for A$285 million from

John Laing Group John Laing Group is a British investor, developer and operator of privately financed, public sector infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, hospitals and schools through public-private partnership (PPP) and private finance initiative (PF ...

. Sentier owned the French heating operator Coriance in late 2022 and was considering selling it for as much as $1.5 billion, according to ''

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

''."First Sentier Plans $1.5 Billion Sale of French Energy Firm Coriance"

; '' Bloomberg News, Bloomberg'' (bloomberg.com); 20-09-2022; retrieved on 22 January 2023 At the start of 2023, First Sentier Investors was managing $134 billion in assets."First Sentier Investors picks chief risk officer"

; '' Pensions & Investments'' (pionline.com); 05-01-2023; retrieved on 22 January 2023

Corporate structure

The company is based in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

."First Sentier names head of distribution for Japan"

; '' Pensions & Investments'' (pionline.com); 29-04-2022; retrieved on 22 January 2023 First Sentier Investors operates as a standalone business governed by a

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. It has

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

of US$134 billion as of 2023. First Sentier Investors includes full ownership of FSSA Investment Managers, Stewart Investors, Realindex Investments, and Igneo Infrastructure Partners.

Responsible investment

First Sentier Investors has been a signatory to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Principles for Responsible Investment Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI or PRI) is a United Nations-supported international network of financial institutions working together to implement its six aspirational principles, often referenced as "the Principles". Its goal is to ...

since 2007 and produces an annual report."Annual Report; Global Responsible Investment and Stewardship Principles and Policy"

; First Sentier Investors (firstsentierinvestors.com.au); April 2020; retrieved on 20 January 2023

References

External links

* Commonwealth Bank Financial services companies based in Sydney Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 1988 establishments in Australia {{finance-company-stub 2019 mergers and acquisitions Asset management companies