Asset Super has made substantial changes to its international equities and international bond portfolios, throwing out many of its existing managers in favour of a new selection.
The super fund has whittled down its former suite of international equities managers from eight to five — four of which are new appointments.
The new managers are Martin Currie Global Alpha, Lazard Global Thematic, Schroder Value & Quality Funds and Franklin Global Equity. The only existing international equities manager to be retained was the Bernstein Global Value mandate.
The changes represent a transition of around $230 million of member investments — almost 20 per cent of Asset Super’s total funds under management at the end of April — and were recommended by Mercer. Asset Super appointed Mercer as its investment consultant in July last year.
In regards to the fund’s international bonds portfolio, Asset Super has split its former international bond investment, which represents more than 10 per cent of the fund, among four new managers. The four new managers are Franklin Templeton, Mondrian (UK), Kapstream and Blackrock. The fund redeemed its passively managed international bonds mandate with State Street Global Assets, which totalled $115 million.
A statement from Asset Super said while the restructure was originally planned for late last year, it was held up as a result of the condition of the market.
“The manager restructure, recommended by Mercer, addressed a slight investment style imbalance in the portfolio and has also achieved a small reduction in overall fees whilst having the potential to produce substantial improvement in returns,” the statement from Asset Super said.
The fund also refreshed its Australian equities capabilities at the end of last year, with the appointments of Alleron and Tyndall.
