Mercer reinstated as Sunsuper investment consultant

Sunsuper has re-signed Mercer as its investment consultant for a further three years, with some slight adjustments to the mix of investment services required by the big industry fund.

Mercer will now be tasked with conducting operational due diligence on the fund's portfolio managers, said Sunsuper chief investment officer David Hartley. Mercer, which was originally appointed by Sunsuper in June 2008, will continue to provide strategic asset allocation, portfolio construction, boutique manager research and investment operations consulting.

"All my portfolio managers were asked to consider the needs that they have for their particular areas of responsibility ... We added things in, but there were one or two areas where we asked 'can we knock that off the list?'. The service from Mercer is probably a bit higher than it was before in terms of dollars," Hartley said.

Leading up to the new agreement with Mercer, Sunsuper approached a number of different consultants - some of whom were hired for specialist roles, said Hartley. While he was reluctant to name some of the newer appointments, he said the New York-based company Aksia was currently used as a hedge fund adviser.

When it came to Sunsuper's investment strategy, Hartley said it was largely the responsibility of the portfolio managers.

"They work with the consultants and the internal team to propose a strategy to the Board. The Board then considers the strategy, and once it gets approved the implementation sits with the investment team. Our Board does not get involved in manager selection - unless it's outside strategy," Hartley said.

Sunsuper has more than one million members, and over $18.2 billion in funds under administration as at 30 June 2011.