Legalsuper, the superannuation fund for Australia’s legal community, hired GQG Partners to manage A$110 million ($83 million) in global equities.
Edward Smith, chief investment officer of the A$3 billion, Melbourne-based superannuation fund, said in a telephone interview that funding for the GQG allocation came from terminating MFS Investment Management.
Mr. Smith said two factors led to the change, despite solid long-term performance by MFS.
First, the looming retirement of David Mannheim, the senior vice president and portfolio manager who has been “the face” of the global equity strategy legalsuper was invested in has raised uncertainties with regard to the strategy’s performance going forward, he said.
Second, against the backdrop of continued fee reductions across the industry, the fees MFS was charging had become relatively high, he said.
James Aber, a Boston-based spokesman for MFS, declined to comment.
GQG is a global equities boutique launched last June by ex-Vontobel Asset Management CIO Rajiv Jain.
Mr. Smith called extending a significant allocation to Mr. Jain, an industry veteran "we have a lot of respect for," a "terrific opportunity" to take advantage of the incentives Mr. Jain has to make his new firm a success.
