Spire Capital

Spire Capital is pleased to share that the Spire US Data Centre Colocation Fund (AUD) was awarded the Winner of the 'Alternatives - Other' category at the SQM and Financial Newswire Fund Manager of the Year Awards 2024. A huge thank you to our valued clients for investing alongside Spire & Valterra Partners to build Colohouse (underlying investment) into a true leader in data centre colocation and multi-cloud solutions across a large footprint in the USA. Spire is proud to be providing Australian Wholesale investors access to new sources of returns to complement traditional asset classes. Besides accessing the 'data tsunami' mega-theme underpinning demand for data centres and digital infrastructure, Spire investors have helped finance a buy-and-build private equity strategy that has elevated Colohouse into a mid-market leader. Spire is currently closing out the final capital raise (Fund III) for this strategy and welcomes Wholesale investors to reach out to investorrelations@spirecapital.com.au ahead of Final Close on 30 September, 2024. #privateequityinfrastructure #datacentres

Thank you to those in the network able to join Howard Marks (Co-Founder, Oaktree) for his latest thoughts on the evolving sea change across financial markets. To request a copy of the webinar recording, please reach out to investorrelations@spirecapital.com.au. Spire Capital has partnered with Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. to enable Australian/NZ investors (Qualified Purchasers) to capitalise on Howard's sea change thesis by investing alongside institutional investors in Oaktree's flagship opportunistic credit program. This opportunity will close the week commencing Monday 9 September. Private Debt continues to grab headlines with both hype and concern. Spire partnered with Oaktree as part of implementing a "barbell approach" to private debt. With this, we make the clear distinction between: 1. "Pre-rate hike" loans - these loans favour Oaktree's "good companies with bad balance sheets" approach. It is centred on working with borrowers that are taking strain from increased borrowing costs and imminent refinancing obligations. These companies benefit from capital solutions including rescue loans and deep restructuring resources to support companies with the next leg of growth. 2. "Post-rate hike" loans - these loans favour vanilla direct lending (i.e., non-bank lending) with a focus on good companies, performing loans, credit default management and running yield. In our view, Oaktree has proven credentials for serving point 1 above and offers the potential to deliver Australian/NZ investors (Qualified Purchasers) a means of generating asymmetric returns (relative to traditional asset classes). Australian/NZ investors (Qualified Purchasers) can reach out to investorrelations@spirecapital.com.au for more information. #diversification #privatedebt #distresseddebt #privatemarkets

Thank you to the Financial Standard and Karren Vergara for a 20 minute discussion with our Head of Investments (Stuart Haigh) on the rise of private markets in private client portfolios. The structural reallocation from public markets to private markets is another watershed moment in the continued 'institutionalisation' of private wealth and financial planning in Australia. https://lnkd.in/gKQbzAY8 Spire Capital has proudly been supporting Australian advice firms to navigate global private markets for over a decade. As the amount of private market opportunities for advisors continue to proliferate, we are offering select and qualified advice firms access to a customised semi-liquid private markets portfolio for retail/mass affluent clients. The strategy is focussed on identifying the best relative value across private markets and currently favours PE secondaries and private debt (direct lending). Execution is via specialist managers on preferred terms and through access vehicles customised for Australian investors. Meanwhile, we continue to curate a rolling menu of high-conviction private market co-investments (e.g. US Data Centres) for Wholesale investors seeking outsized returns. Please reach out to investorrelations@spirecapital.com.au for access to recent White Papers (Navigating the proliferation of private markets for wealth management and Liquidity in private market funds - mirage or miracle?) and for more information on how Spire can be your firm's trusted advisor for global private markets.

Former CEO of Schroders Australia, Sam Hallinan, has joined Spire Capital ("Spire") as Partner and shareholder. Spire Capital Partner, Mr. Dale Holmes, said “We are extremely pleased to have attracted someone with the experience and reputation of Sam to Spire. Over a 30-year career, Sam has been at the forefront of the evolution of investment management in Australia. As private wealth investors shift focus from public to private market portfolio solutions, his experience will be invaluable for our clients. This appointment allows us to accelerate our innovative approach to opening up global private markets to local private investors. Over the past 15 years, Spire has listened to clients and observed global trends to evolve from distributor and fund manager into investment manager. This means we are now able to offer differentiated co-investments to Wholesale Investors (e.g. US data centres, Australian waste management) through to fully implemented private market portfolios to serve the needs of growing advice firms with diverse client segments.” Mr. Hallinan said, “Since leaving Schroders I have reflected a lot about the state of the Australian funds management industry, which clearly has its challenges. It was clear to me that I wanted to work in a business that had a platform to leverage the growth in private markets and most importantly offer investors quality, hard to access portfolio solutions. I am very pleased to be joining the Spire Capital team and contributing to its success as both as a Partner and shareholder.”   Prior to his time at Schroders Australia, Mr. Hallinan was the CEO of Nikko AM Australia and prior to this worked in a number of senior leadership positions across NAB and MLC Asset Management.   Mr. Hallinan will join the Spire Leadership Team and Investment Committee.   Spire Capital Partner and Head of Investments, Mr. Stuart Haigh said “Sam brings pedigree and strong knowledge of investment markets and advice firms so is well placed to help Spire stay relevant to the evolving needs of advisors and their clients. His appointment follows a number of recent hires to bolster Spire’s investment management capability. This includes the appointment of Scott Dingle (former Head of Private Equity, Australia at Partners Group) and the addition of Peeyush Gupta AM FAICD and Dr Richard Gregson (Founder of Equity Partners) to the Spire Capital Investment Committee. With deep expertise in assessing private market opportunities and an intimate understanding of local advice firms, we believe we are well positioned to help advisors navigate expanding allocations to private markets and a wave of new products”.   Mr. Hallinan will officially join the firm on 1 May 2024. #privatemarkets

Thank you to those in the network able to join our recent discussion with Howard Marks (Co-Chairman, Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.) and Stuart Haigh (Head of Investments, Spire Capital). The recent public market rally reminds investors of the risks of ‘goldilocks’ thinking. Inflation is yet to be fully tamed so attempting to time the Fed pivot is fraught with difficulty. Even with the expected easing cycle, we may see the Fed's medium term settings in the 3.00 to 3.50% range. This is meaningfully higher than the 0.25% back in 2020. This means a broad range of good companies with highly leveraged balance sheets, who arranged debt at these levels, will struggle to refinance. In between, the weight of additional interest costs on unhedged loans is seeing debt service coverage ratios on the decline. Companies are running out of cash. Spire Capital is pleased to be partnered with Oaktree to help Australian investors (Qualified Purchasers) capitalise on what Howard calls the ‘Sea Change’. Please email investorrelations@spirecapital.com.au to learn more or to receive a recording of our recent webinar with Howard. #privatecredit #distresseddebt #diversification #privatedebt #privatemarkets