Since the emergence of “Modern Portfolio Theory” and the “Capital Asset Pricing Model” in the late 1960s, institutional investors have taken a quantitatively driven approach to portfolio construction, looking to create portfolio diversification and obtain better risk-adjusted returns by balancing their asset-class exposures. This journey has seen several important advancements in thinking about how to optimally achieve desired results.
Funds that want to take the total portfolio approach first need to get the total portfolio view. To do that they not only need data – and lots of it – but a rock-solid understanding of exactly how they’re going to use it.
Catholic fund replaces Russell with Towers
The Sydney-based Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund has appointed Towers Watson as its new asset consultant, replacing Russell Investments.
The $5 billion 90,000-member public offer industry fund has 11 investment options. In the year to June 2012 the growth fund returned minus 3.4 per cent while the My Super balanced fund was minus 1.1 per cent. The fund was tracking for a big improvement in 2013, with the growth fund returning 16.6 per cent in the 11 months to May and the My Super balanced fund 13.7 per cent.
The fund has a socially responsible balanced investing option but includes ESG considerations in all investment decisions. It is also a signatory to UNPRI.
Towers Watson announced in April the appointment of five new people to its investment arm – two consultants and three analysts. The consultants were Sean Brereton, from Access Capital, and Dania Zinurova, from Russell via Towers’ London office.
