The Industry Super Network (ISN) has reaffirmed its commitment to investing in unlisted assets despite the recent outperformance of retail master trusts.
The chief economist for the ISN, Sacha Vidler acknowledged that unlisted markets were less efficient but claimed good managers could deliver outperformance over time.
Addressing an Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) conference, he said unlisted investments represented a good defensible asset allocation offering reduced agency costs.
Vidler acknowledged that liquidity issues limited the degree to which super funds could allocate towards unlisted investments.
He said unlisted investments were not something that could be sold in a hurry especially where valuations and daily unit pricing was concerned.
Vidler said the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) was not wrong to be concerned about liquidity given the lessons that had been learned during the global financial crisis (GFC).
Responding to queries about the degree to which unlisted assets had devalued after the GFC, Vidler also stood by the valuation methods utilised by funds with respect to unlisted assets.
