We are pleased to announce that Aura Group has reached a significant milestone and surpassed AU$1,000,000,000 in funds under management and advice (FUMA) in October 2021.
Aura Group’s mission is to help families and institutions invest and build wealth, innovatively and sustainably over generations. We are experts in private markets and believe that alternative investments play a crucial role in asset allocation.
Aura Group was founded in Sydney in 2009 in the depths of the Global Financial Crisis as a corporate advisory practice. We were lucky enough to identify an underserved niche focussing on the unloved startup sector. That bit of initial luck set us down the path of being an early mover in venture capital investment in Australia. Aura Group’s funds and wealth business started in 2013 with zero initial capital. FUMA has grown at an annualized rate of 57% over the past 5.3 years from $89m in June 2016. FUMA growth is also net of $240m divestments, capital returns, and profit distributions.
During this period, we also expanded our strategies from venture capital to private equity, private credit, real assets, and multi-strategy funds and our team from 37 to 95 globally. After setting up in Singapore in 2016, approximately one-third of our team and FUMA is now based in Asia. Aura is also extremely proud of our diversity with a team of roughly equal male and female staff comprising over 13 nationalities.
Today, Aura Group services HNWIs, family offices, and institutions around the world from headquarters in Singapore and operations in Sydney, Melbourne, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila. It’s important to note it hasn’t all been smooth sailing with misses in retail financial advice, some failed proprietary investments and geographical expansions teaching us important lessons in business. Despite these setbacks, a world-class team with a culture of resilience and an incredibly supportive investor base have helped us continue our strong growth.
Our continued strategic imperative is to create a workplace culture with a fun and entrepreneurial mindset focused on generating great investment outcomes for our clients. With this focus in mind and some exciting initiatives we will announce in the coming months, there is no doubt we can grow to $2 billion and then $3 billion in assets under management over the next couple of years. We look forward to the journey.
The Journey to One Billion
