A key architect of the compulsory retirement savings system lauds its many achievements, stretching from the national economy to the individual. Where it’s double faulting is in serving members – and it needs to be addressed promptly.
With performance and diversification driving demand, these funds are expected to experience four-fold global growth over the next decade to nearly $AU65 trillion.
AustralianSuper builds out London-based international equities team
AustralianSuper’s London office is about to get a little more crowded, with the $350 billion fund bringing on several new senior investment personnel as it looks to further internalise its international equities portfolio.
The new appointments include Steve Kelly and Anu Narula as co-heads of high growth equities and Colin Moar as senior portfolio manager for technology equities. Kelly and Narula join from AXA IM and Mirabaud Asset Management respectively, while Moar hails from Barings.
“These high calibre appointments are a springboard to further growing our global equities platform, as we continue to expand our overall international investment capability,” said AustralianSuper head of international equities Mark Hargraves.
“As the fund’s single largest asset class allocation, international equities is integral to providing members with exposure to public markets globally. We believe this enhanced in-house capability and commitment to active management will reduce costs and help generate sustainable long-term performance for 3.4 million members.”
Approximately 30 per cent of AustralianSuper’s international equities allocation is internally managed, but the fund wants to increase that to a significant majority by 2030 in a bid to create “greater cost efficiency at scale and generate stronger returns”. Its internal investment teams use a “one portfolio” approach to “leverage insights and optimise returns via deep fundamental and quantitative research and security selection”.
The appointments follow AustralianSuper’s decision to slash the headcount in its Melbourne-based international equities team back in March. Michael Stavropoulos, head of portfolio construction and strategy, and Joseph Wahbah, head of manager research for global equities, were both made redundant as the fund moved to build up the global equities team in London.
AustralianSuper has about $110 billion allocated to international equities, and while it initially saw its London office as an “unlisted direct-markets play” it ultimately decided that managing equities from the City was “very sensible”. The fund expects to deploy almost 70 per cent of new inflows into global markets, and back in March, it also committed A$15.6 billion of new capital into chunky long-term opportunities in the UK across energy transition, digital infrastructure, mixed-use estates and transport and logistics by 2030.
