Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT) is a giant of the funds management industry in Australia with funds under management (FUM) as at 31 March 2016 of $29.8 billion.
Of even greater importance than its level of FUM is the track record Perpetual has with managing money.
While the group operates a range of different funds which all have performed differently, Perpetual's flagship Wholesale Industrial Share Fund which has an inception date of December 1996 has produced a return of 10.6% per annum, which equates to 1.3% outperformance against its benchmark.
Although the Industrial Share Fund's recent performance hasn't been as impressive, the depth of experience across the Perpetual group makes its investment decisions noteworthy.
Recently, Perpetual issued substantial shareholder notices in both QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) and Estia Health Ltd (ASX: EHE).
Given that the share prices of both QBE and Estia have been under some pressure recently, it could be timely for other investors to take a closer look at these two stocks.
QBE
Shares in this global insurer have been under pressure for a number of years and in the past 12 months alone the share price is down 16%.
As I noted recently, now could be an opportune time to analyse QBE with arguably the worst behind the group and risks to the upside.
Estia
Estia and the wider aged-care sector in general are under a cloud at present with some investors recently raising concerns regarding the outlook for some operators. The change in sentiment towards the sector has resulted in Estia's share price falling by over 30% since the beginning of calendar year 2016. Perpetual for one would appear to view the sell-down as creating a buying opportunity.
