Mark Hargraves was named head of international and private equity at AustralianSuper, covering £42.2 billion ($53.6 billion) in assets, joining from AXA Investment Managers.
The role is new and effective in October, a spokesman confirmed. The Melbourne-based superannuation fund announced it would search for a candidate for the role in December, alongside a raft of other leadership changes. Michael Stavropoulos, head of portfolio construction and strategy-equities, was named interim head of international equities at the time.
Mr. Hargraves will be based in London and lead the super fund's £35.2 billion international equities portfolio and the £7 billion private equity portfolio. He will also be responsible for building internal capabilities and hiring new talent.
The international — non-Australian — equities portfolio is expected to grow to about £131 billion by 2030, while the private equity portfolio is set to increase to about £28.2 billion by that date, AustralianSuper said in a news release Tuesday.
The super fund is Australia's largest, with £155 billion in assets. That figure is expected to grow to about £350 billion by 2030.
"Mark's appointment is an important leadership role within the fund, bringing together the management, research and strategy for international equities and private equity investments," CIO Mark Delaney said in the release. "His investment experience within complex multimarket organizational structures will be invaluable as we build our own capabilities alongside outside investment mandates."
The super fund's international equities allocation is 28%, while the private equity exposure is 5% of total assets, the spokesman confirmed.
Mr. Hargraves will join from AXA Investment Managers, where he is global head of AXA IM equity. He will leave at the end of September, a spokeswoman confirmed. "We would like to thank him for his contribution to AXA IM over the past 23 years and wish him well in his future endeavors. We have already started the replacement process and will communicate about his successor in due course," she said in an email.
Mr. Hargraves joined equity boutique Framlington in 2000. The firm was acquired by AXA IM in 2006.
