)
BLUE Sky Alternative Investments (ASX:BLA) has capitalised on a shift of alternative assets into the mainstream with a 69 per cent lift in half-year profits.
The Brisbane-based asset manager recorded a net profit of $4.4 million in the six months to the end of December, buoyed by a 44 per cent increase in revenue to $23.8 million compared to a year earlier.
Blue Sky has boosted its fee-earning assets under management (AUM) guidance for the full year, after its portfolio grew to $1.7 billion - up from $1.35 billion at June 2015.
The AUM target of $2 billion has been fast-tracked 18 months ahead of schedule, benefitting from increasing allocations to alternatives in Australia and offshore.
Blue Sky managing director Mark Sowerby (pictured) says the growth reflects almost 10 years in the alternatives market, as it becomes more mainstream.
"Industry forecasts suggest alternative assets will be the largest investment class in Australia by 2021," Sowerby says.
"Our strong and consistent decade-long track record of growth and investment performance across all our funds places us in a very competitive position.
"Blue Sky's funds give investors access to investment opportunities in private markets. This is where the new ideas and growth companies of the future will be found.
"Our focus in recent years on the essentials - food, water, education, housing, student accommodation, agriculture and infrastructure - has been the key to this performance."
Blue Sky has also updated the performance of the investment funds it manages to the end of December 2015 from 15.4 per cent to 16.9 per cent per annum.
Profit for the full year is expected to be between $14 million and $16 million.
)
