Our Story
Atom's founding executives, David Shearwood and Drew Wilson, had long pondered the pro's and con's of founding a boutique: being small and nimble would help them take advantage of market opportunities within under researched sectors, but hinder their ability to fund a large and talented research team.
Traveling to India in early 2006 solved the dilemma. There they met talented, ambitious, well-educated analysts. A global operation offered the best of both worlds and Atom was incorporated in Australia in March 2006 and shortly thereafter in India (July 2006).
Mid-2006 to December 2007 saw the firm focused on building its systems and processes. The majority ofthis effort was placed on finding, training and vetting Atom's Indian analytical team.
In December of 2007 the Atom Small Cap Fund was launched.
On the first of July 2008 Sanlam International Investment Partners Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Sanlam Investment Management, one of South Africa's leading money managers became a majority shareholder in Atom. Atom has the strengths of a large multi-national, and the nimbleness of a boutique.
Prior to August 2007, Atom was known as "Indian Ocean Rim Asset Management Pty Ltd".
