ART takes substantial stake in Tabcorp

Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has become a substantial shareholder in Tabcorp, taking a stake of just over 5 per cent in the gaming and wagering company.

Tabcorp confirmed that ART became a substantial shareholder on 15 August with 115,954,838 ordinary shares, representing 5.072 per cent of the company’s issued capital.

An ART spokesperson told SuperReview the fund’s purpose is to deliver superannuation benefits to members, which requires investing across a wide variety of asset classes.

“This means investing in a wide variety of asset classes with the aim of delivering strong, diversified and long-term returns to our members,” the spokesperson said.

“ART’s scale and commitment to investing in Australia means we have substantial holdings in ASX-listed companies.”

The fund said its Tabcorp position is largely driven by a passive core holding, accounting for more than 50 per cent of the stake.

Its overall 5.1 per cent holding equates to a 0.02 per cent overweight position.

In a parallel development, Tabcorp disclosed that Aware Super has ceased being a substantial shareholder in Tabcorp as of 24 July 2025. 

Double-digit returns drive optimism for new financial year

Preceding this, ART announced double-digit returns across many investment options over FY2024–25.

The fund’s Lifecycle Investment Strategy achieved a return of 11.2 per cent for the balanced pool option, and 11.9 per cent for the high growth pool over the financial year.

Speaking to SuperReview’s sister brand at the time, InvestorDaily, ART general manager of total portfolio management and resilience, Andrew Fisher, stated: “We had calibrated ourselves five years ago to a zero interest rate world and thought these kinds of returns were unachievable, but we’re now in a much more normalised interest rate world.”

Fisher noted that the fund’s performance drivers had shifted over the past five years, from private equity after COVID-19 to real assets during the inflation surge, and more recently, global equities.

“In the most recent financial year, it was more of a domestic exposure. Australian equities and domestic infrastructure were two of the biggest drivers of that relative outperformance,” he added. 

On the outlook for FY25–26, Fisher remarked that while double-digit returns could be unrealistic, ART is confident in achieving at least an 8 per cent return over the financial year.

“Interest rates remain relatively attractive and bond yields look quite good relative to interest rates,” he said.

“Equities look reasonably good other than a few overpriced stocks and a bit of concentration in some markets. We’re also confident that unlisted assets will [be able to generate] strong yields.

“We’re going into this new financial year relatively optimistic.”