UniSuper and the Seafarers’Retirement Fund (SRF) have sold their respective 25 per cent stakes in Atune Financial Solutions to KAZ Group, the technology firm developing the Atune platform, for $4.2 million each.
SRF fund secretary Tony Ashton cites a disproportionate drain on executive time and resources relative to the size of the investment as reasons for his fund’s divestment. No comment was available from UniSuper because CEO Ann Byrne was on leave.
“The reality of the thing was that it was taking up an inordinate amount of time… We decided that we should be focusing on the investments of the fund as a whole (over $500 million) and be providing members with the best possible returns on their super,” Ashton says.
KAZ Group increases its holding in the company from 25 to 75 per cent, with the remaining industry fund in the consortium — the Labour Union Co-operative Retirement Fund — retaining its 25 per cent holding in the venture.
