By Jamie Freed
SYDNEY, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Australia's BT Investment Management BTT.AX (BTIM), which has A$84 billion ($62.13 billion) of funds under management, will consider acquisitions as it looks to substantially grow its business in the United States over the next five years, its chief executive said.
BTIM, 30 percent owned by Australia's second biggest bank, Westpac WBC.AX , has A$12.3 billion of its funds under management for U.S. clients at present through its J O Hambro Capital Management business acquired in 2011.
"We are not shying away from Australia," BTIM Chief Executive Emilio Gonzalez told Reuters in an interview ahead of the company's annual meeting on Friday. "But in five year's time if I was to map out the book there would be more growth and exposure in the U.S. than our current level."
Half of BTIM's funds are managed for Australian clients, with the remainder split between the U.S., U.K and Europe.
Gonzalez said BTIM would consider acquisitions that fit with its strategy of growing the U.S, business, which includes high net worth individuals, endowment funds, pension funds and charitable organisations as clients.
Currently, he said, BTIM was "chipping away at the edges" as it built its presence in the giant U.S. market, which accounts for about half of funds under management globally.
"We are delivering strong performance which is the license to play," Gonzalez said. "We have a very dedicated sales team of about six to seven people. It is very focused. They haven't got a laundry list of products to sell. It is quite narrow."
($1 = 1.3521 Australian dollars)