By James Langton

(March 21 – 12:40 ET) – During this morning’s conference call to discuss its first quarter results, Sceptre Investment Counsel stressed the growing importance of foreign investing to Canada’s institutional money managers.

William Malouin, president and CEO of Sceptre, said that the firm is having good success in winning investment mandates in the most recent quarter thanks to the strategic alliance with Boston’s Putnam Investments in entered into last year. In the most recent quarter Scepte reports winning 17 new mandates, primarily as a result of Putnam’s presence.

Malouin says there is a lot of business out there for firms with a global capability, a consequence of the increase foreign content limits to 30%. He says that while there are existing pension funds looking to expand their global exposure, there are some new large pension funds that are also seeking full foreign content exposure. The combination of a large demand and a strong capability in Putnam is giving Sceptre a good shot at winning institutional clients.

Malouin estimates that the firm is winning about 60% of the mandates it competes for at this point. The addition of these new clients won’t start impacting revenue until later in the year though, thanks to the lag between winning the assignment and getting paid for it.

The demand for a foreign capability is reportedly driving RT Capital Management Inc. to look for a partner, too. Malouin says Sceptre has no interest in RT, noting it already has a lot on its plate, and that RT really needs a foreign partner of its own.

On the domestic front, Malouin says that Sceptre continues to lose assets, although its performance has turned around thanks to the recent market corrections. He expects a lengthy lag between the performance turnaround and renewed sales.