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.
Aware shops at Macquarie, Pendal to boost investment team
Aware Super has a new head of portfolio management in Simon Warner, formerly the global head of public markets at AMP Capital. Warner joins the fund from Macquarie Asset Management, to which AMP’s equities and fixed income businesses were sold early 2022. In the new role, Warner will lead the “development and delivery” of portfolio management across public equities, private equity and property and infrastructure.
Also joining Aware is Justin Howell, the former global chief operating officer at Pendal Group. It’s technically a homecoming for Howell; he was previously head of strategy and operations for First State Super, Aware’s predecessor, and joins the new fund as chief operating officer for investments, leading “the establishment of the fund’s Investment Enablement teams”.
“We are delighted to have attracted the calibre of these recent appointees who bring with them investment expertise to further fuel our growth ambitions, and leadership experience which will help us furnish a world-class investment team,” said Aware Super CIO Damian Graham (pictured).
“As an active, global institutional investor and super fund, we are well positioned to continue to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns and lower fees for our more than 1.1 million members. In addition, our global investment strategy and Aware Super’s strategic risk culture will also provide further exciting future opportunities for our employees, and for the communities that are home to our assets across the globe.”
Aware was also keen to tout two digital transformation projects it’s been chipping away at: the recent consolidation of five legacy technology systems into a single admin and registry platform; and the creation of a new data platform that will “integrate” projected increases across private and public market allocations and the fund manage its goal of 50 per cent internally managed assets.
“Aware Super’s growth story is an exciting one not only for our members and current teams, but for the rest of the industry as we expand our footprint into other developed and important capital markets such as London, and continue to invest innovatively and boldly,” Graham said. “We have fantastic growth opportunities for our people and today’s announcement is further proof as to why we continue to be an employer of choice in the institutional investment landscape.”
