AustralianSuper, Melbourne, expanded its international equities team with three senior appointments based in the London office.
The roles are all newly created, a spokesperson for the A$342 billion ($220.9 billion) super fund said.
Steve Kelly and Anu Narula were named as co-heads of high growth global equities. Kelly was a fund manager on AXA Investment Managers’ American Growth and U.S. Responsible Growth funds, an AustralianSuper news release said. Narula was head of equities at Mirabaud Asset Management. Details on any replacements were not immediately available.
The super fund also named Colin Moar as a senior portfolio manager, technology equities. He joined from Barings where he was a director and investment manager in the technology sector team. A spokesperson declined to comment on departures.
The appointments are part of the super fund’s work to further internalize the management of international equities — the largest single asset class allocation. More than half of the fund’s assets are invested in equities, with one-third of that allocated to non-Australian equities. About 30% of that international equities portfolio is internally managed, but AustralianSuper intends to increase that to a “significant majority” by 2030, the release said, “aiming to create greater cost efficiency at scale and generate stronger returns” to the benefit of participants, it added.
"These high caliber appointments are a springboard to further growing our global equities platform, as we continue to expand our overall international investment capability,” said Mark Hargraves, head of international equities at AustralianSuper, in the release. “As the fund’s single largest asset class allocation, international equities is integral to providing members with exposure to public markets globally. We believe this enhanced in-house capability and commitment to active management will reduce costs and help generate sustainable long-term performance for 3.4 million members.”
The super fund’s total assets are forecast to exceed A$500 billion within the next five years, and almost 70% of these new inflows are expected to be deployed into global markets.
