Hedge fund float puts Luciano on The List

VGI Partners executive chairman Rob Luciano has vaulted into the ranks of Australia’s wealthy elite.

VGI Partners executive chairman Rob Luciano. Picture: Jane Dempster.

VGI Partners executive chairman Rob Luciano has vaulted into the ranks of Australia’s wealthy elite, increasing his paper wealth by more than $340 million in only five days of trading since the float of his hedge fund on the stock exchange.

Mr Luciano’s stake in VGI is now worth almost $570m after the company’s stellar ASX debut last Friday, and he also has another $10m worth of shares in the listed investment company offshoot VGI Partners Global Investments.

Based on VGI’s share price, Mr Luciano would have a place in the next edition of The List — Australia’s Richest 250, published by The Australian. The cut-off for this year’s edition was $320m.

VGI’s stellar run has also been a success for some of the existing members of The List, who backed the hedge fund’s ASX float at an issue price of $5.50. VGI shares were trading at about $14 yesterday.

One is Melbourne billionaire David Hains, considered one of the country’s most astute and successful investors via his Portland House hedge fund. He has amassed a $2.85 billion fortune.

At least two of Mr Hains’ investment vehicles hold shares in VGI — making him and his family the sixth-largest shareholders — as does another billionaire and member of The List in Netwealth founder Michael Heine.

Netwealth is a wealth management platform that floated on the ASX in November 2017. Mr Heine and his family are the firm’s biggest shareholders and one of Netwealth’s investment companies is a VGI shareholder.

The top 20 shareholders in VGI also include members of the billionaire Smorgon family and property investor Danny Goldberg.

Mr Luciano, 45, founded VGI in 2008 after working at Caledonia Investments in Sydney, which is run by another member of The List, Will Vicars.

Also a contender for The List is Sydney businessman Rupesh Singh, also 45. Mr Singh is the founder and owner of tertiary education services company Education Centres Australia.

DataRoom this month revealed ECA could list on the ASX in November with a value of $500m, having recently completed investor meetings across Asia.

ECA has offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and overseas. Mr Singh plans to retain a majority stake.