The ECP Growth Companies Fund and ECP Global Growth Fund have been added to the Mason Stevens outsourced CIO (OCIO) High Conviction List (HCL). The HCL, with its focus on the very best managers, provides access to circa five per cent of the investable market, with 90 strategies across asset classes, sub asset classes and investment style.

ECP Growth Companies Fund was one of 23 strategies selected for the Australian equities category, and ECP Global Growth Fund was one of 22 strategies selected for the global equities category as part of Mason Stevens’ latest review.

Jacqui Fernley, CIO of Mason Stevens, says that to be added to the High Conviction List, managers must go through a rigorous due diligence process, which is designed to identify managers that have a greater likelihood of meeting their stated investment objectives.

“We seek to provide our clients with access to a list of the best-in-class funds available, and for ECP to have both its funds listed in Mason Steven’s OCIO High Conviction List reflects their strong track record and commitment to delivering high returns to its investors,” she said.

Partner at ECP Asset Management, Jared Pohl, says the addition of its two funds in the Mason Steven’s list re-affirms ECP’s reputation as one of the leading equity boutiques in Australia. “We are particularly excited for our newly launched global equities fund to be included on the HCL. It is a privilege to partner with Mason Stevens OCIO and be given the opportunity to build wealth together for their clients.

“Both funds have a proven track record of delivering strong performance for our investors. Our investment strategy focuses on the selection of companies considered to have high quality business models that can generate predictable, above-average economic returns over the long term,” said Mr Pohl.

The ECP Growth Companies Fund returned 18.9 per cent (gross) over the 12 months ending 31 July 2024 outperforming the S&P/ASX 330 Accumulation index by 4.9 per cent. The ECP Global Growth Fund returned 22.0 per cent (gross) over the 12 months ending 31 July 2024, broadly in line with the benchmark over this period.

“In the past year, holdings in GQG Partners, Hub24 and Nuix have been key contributors to our strong performance in Australian equities. For example, with GQG Partners, where the market saw an overvalued stock, we saw an undervalued one that we capitalised on its mispricing. This is fundamentally how our investment style plays into selecting stocks and how we can bring added value to our investors in looking beyond the market noise,” he said.

Principal at ECP Asset Management Justin Warton added: “Within the ECP Global Growth Fund, we saw strong performance across a number of our holdings, most notably in Interactive Brokers. The market is starting to recognise Interactive Brokers’ cost and execution leadership, and is seeing it basically become a utility for the entire industry. It remains a core long-term holding for the fund.”

ECP Asset Management’s All Cap Strategy was ranked the second highest performing fund in Mercer’s Investment Performance survey of fund managers in the Australian market for the past quarter, returning 29.1 per cent over a one-year period.