National Australia Bank hired Delaware Investments to subadvise about US$1 billion in global equities for MLC, the bank’s wealth management division, according to a Delaware Investments news release.
Delaware’s growth equity team, led by Jeffrey S. Van Harte, chief investment officer and head of the firm’s focus growth team, will manage parts of a number of portfolios, including the MLC Global Share fund, MLC Hedged Global Share fund, MLC Horizon series and the MLC Long-Term Absolute Return portfolio, according to the release.
Delaware replaces Capital International as subadviser, according to MLC’s website. “In recent years, we’ve had some concerns about the (Capital International) team managing our mandate. We and Capital International have tried to address these matters. However, at present we have greater confidence that Delaware Investments can deliver to our strategy’s current requirements,” according to a statement on MLC’s website.
Capital International remains the emerging markets subadviser to the MLC Long-Term Absolute Return portfolio, the statement said.
In a telephone interview, Aiden J. Redmond, senior vice president and head of institutional distribution with Delaware Investments, said the MLC mandate becomes the first big win for the Van Harte team’s global equity strategy since it reached its three-year mark in December with roughly $20 million in assets.
According to data from Morningstar, the Delaware Focus Global Growth fund’s performance placed it in the fifth percentile among 701 funds for the three years through April 4.
