(Pictured: Whitney Drayton)

Artisan Partners, a US-based global manager, will open an Australian office next month. It has employed its former third-party marketer in Australia and New Zealand, Whitney Drayton, as a full-time executive to run the office in Sydney.

Drayton brought Artisan to Australia in 2011 and has represented them since through his company Grey Pine Advisory. Prior to becoming a third-party marketer he was director of institutional business for Wellington Management in Australia.

Artisan, which was started in Milwaukee in 1994, offers investors 14 US and non-US investment strategies run by six autonomous teams. Five of the teams work on equity strategies and one on credit. The firm operates similar to a multi-affiliate model. It has offices throughout the US and in London. Sydney will be its first in the Asia Pacific region.

Eric Colson, the company’s chief executive, said: “Australia and New Zealand are markets with institutional clients and decision making processes that align well with our business model and distribution goals. Over the last several years we have worked with Whitney to introduce our firm to investors in the region and have been fortunate to begin relationships with multiple high quality clients. Having an office in Sydney will help us better serve our growing client base and more effectively distribute our investment offerings.”