Global investment management firm Barings plans to grow in the Australian market.

The subsidiary of life insurer MassMutual has about $US421 billion ($678 billion) in assets under management globally. Australia and the broader Asia-Pacific region account for about 29%.

Head of international insurance solutions Patrick O’Sullivan, who recently visited Sydney, says he is upbeat about the Australian market after meeting current and prospective insurance clients.

“I guess one of the key questions from a lot of clients is really around, how do they invest and increase the investment returns ... How do they get efficient scale and deploy? That’s where having the breadth of capabilities that Barings has is particularly important.

“One of our key capabilities is in our portfolio finance business, and that’s resonated very strongly with a number of insurance companies, not just here in Australia but right across the globe.”

The Australian market is competitive, but Barings believes it has an edge.

“At the moment, there’s a lot of firms that can support insurance companies,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “It’s about picking the right partner for each insurance company, but the breadth of Barings’ capabilities is quite unique across public and private markets … and this is really important when it comes to delivering investments in an efficient way for insurance companies.”

Mr O’Sullivan, who is based in London, joined Barings last year. He is responsible for providing insurance clients with technical expertise and support across regulatory regimes.

Barings has insurance clients in the Australian general and life sectors, and is working to expand its business here.

Mr O’Sullivan says the insurance solutions team launched in 2019 and started with a North American focus.

“But that’s expanded globally, and I joined the team in June of last year to lead that global expansion to make sure we can deliver tailored solutions to meet the needs of insurance companies right around the world,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We’re meeting existing clients and prospective clients [in Australia] to talk through our capabilities and existing portfolios ... to provide knowledge sharing and update on the global insurance market and some of the key trends we’re seeing around the world.”