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.
State Street wins Qld funds under IFAA guidance
In a clever move on behalf of three of its smaller funds, Queensland-based administrator IFAA has put together a A$1.8 billion group tender for custody and administration, won by State Street.
The funds are Mercy Super (formerly Sisters of Mercy), Club Super Queensland and QIEC Super, all acting with advice from JANA Investment Advisers.
While there may be some doubt as to the true scalability of the three separate funds, sources say IFAA (Independent Fund Administrators & Advisers) managed to extract an appropriate group price on the admin and custody contract.
The independently owned IFAA has about $5.1 billion under its administration on behalf of 185,000 members. It also provides software services and company secretariat services to smaller super funds.
The boutique administrator was established by Neil Harvey and Garry Ayre in 1998. It also provides admin services to the infrastructure and PE fund The Private Capital Group, which is sub-advised by Hastings and Mercer.
