Fund manager Jun Bei Liu announced plans to launch her own firm while migrating the $1.5 billion Tribeca Alpha Plus fund, which will continue to be managed under her leadership with the same strategy.

Speaking to InvestorDaily, portfolio manager Liu said she “pretty much grew up” in Tribeca and felt it was time to start her own venture.

Liu began his career at the firm as an analyst in 2005, covering sectors such as healthcare, retail and media, before becoming co-portfolio manager of the Tribeca Alpha Plus Fund in 2016. and take full control of the fund in 2019.

“I've been managing the fund for five and a half years, we've taken the fund's performance to the top of the Australian fund manager rankings and grown from $300 million to $1.5 billion. It feels like the right time for me to step out and go into my own business – with the blessing of Tribeca, which I'm thrilled about – and the support of my biggest clients,” she told InvestorDaily.

Liu confirmed she has the backing of Tribeca managing director David Aylward, who will join her new firm's advisory board in early 2025.

"I enjoy drawing on his decades of experience in the financial market, both here in Australia and globally, so I'm looking forward to that," she said.

Liu will lead the new firm with a team of "smart and experienced" investment analysts, although a name change to Tribeca Alpha Plus Fund is expected.

A new business partner is also set to come on board, she said, but noted that additional details will come next month before the firm's official launch in mid-January.

Liu noted that her decision coincides with a pivotal moment in the asset management industry.

A Morningstar survey earlier this year revealed Australian asset managers are facing challenges including net outflows, rising popularity of ETFs and fee pressures contributing to a decline in their ranks.

A number of funds have closed in recent months, including small-cap manager NovaPort Capital in May, ethical fund manager Ethical Partners in July and specialist income manager Wheelhouse Investment Partners in September.

Others have been forced to merge, especially those on a smaller scale.

However, Liu remains unfazed. She is convinced that there will be room for active managers who are able to deliver on their investment promises.

"We've always believed that if you're a good performer, if you're a good active manager, there will always be good support. We have found that over the last five and a half years we have been getting inflows from both institutional support and retail and wholesale support. If anything, we found we were getting a lot of inflows from any number of clients, even internationally,” she said.

"So I really believe that if we can deliver the performance that we've promised consistently, the market may change, but we'll continue to have active market share."

With Australian and global markets increasingly embracing passive strategies, Liu sees this as a "fantastic opportunity" for remaining active managers to step up and capture market share.

“Personally, it's my job to deliver the performance I've promised to clients, and that's my end of the bargain.

"So if an active manager can't deliver an active performance, that's really hard to justify." Also, when you can't deliver, there will be pressure on fees,” she said.

Liu added: “I want to build the best team that is dedicated and very specialized in what I do, and get the best people to give their best. That's why I'm very excited about this venture.”

The Tribeca Alpha Plus Fund aims to achieve long-term outperformance of the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index by investing in both long and short positions in listed Australian shares using a combination of quantitative and fundamental investment strategies.

The fund delivered a 28 percent return in the 12 months to September, beating the benchmark return of 21 percent. Since inception, it has returned 11.32%, compared to the benchmark's return of 7.17%.

Reflecting its strong track record, Liu said the fund's long-term and short-term strategy played a significant role in allowing it to be nimble to opportunities.

"I like to invest and the good thing is that because the fund is a long-term fund and a short-term fund, I can hedge a lot of risks that other people can't do, so I can hedge inflation risk, China risk, interest rate risk and at the same time time I can jump at every opportunity, be very nimble to be able to provide returns,” Liu told InvestorDaily.

"Our ability to be flexible and pragmatic in managing the hedging of our downside risks has really helped us deliver very consistent returns."