AustralianSuper plans to double global team in three years
Since opening its offices in London and New York, AustralianSuper has sought top talent to enable it to build its investment platform and improve its global presence, according to head of talent Richard Dias.
The superannuation fund currently has around half of its A$300 billion ($191 billion) in assets invested outside Australia — with $85 billion invested in the United States and almost $40 billion invested in the United Kingdom and Europe.
AustralianSuper
“AustralianSuper’s talent attraction and retention strategy is built around our core offer of clear purpose, exciting career opportunities, and an environment that promotes wellbeing and a leading culture,” Dias told AsianInvestor.
The super fund has made a number of key appointments at its London office recently.
“In competitive talent markets like London and New York, we have found that the strength of our brand and culture as well as the opportunity to join the fund at a time of significant international expansion and growth has been a very compelling proposition,” said Dias.
GROWTH TARGETS
AustralianSuper is forecast to have around $450 billion of members’ funds under management by 2030 and will deploy almost 70% of its growing inflows into global markets.
The global equities portfolio is expected to grow from $44 billion today to $163 billion, while the private equity portfolio is expected to grow from $9 billion today to $35 billion.
Along with its portfolio, Dias also stated that the super fund has ambitious personnel growth targets planned for the next three years.
“We expect the global team to grow from the current 120 staff to around 300 over the next three years, with around 130 in New York and 160 in London and a small team in Beijing,” said Dias.
“With more and more of AustralianSuper’s assets managed internally and invested overseas, we have already made great progress in building our investment platform as well as improving global coordination,” he said.
AustralianSuper took a key step towards improving global coordination in June, when the fund appointed Damian Moloney as its deputy chief investment officer at its London office.
HYBRID TEAMS
While expanding its overseas operations, a hybrid mix of talent has been crucial to AustralianSuper’s success.
“We’ve embraced the direct access our international growth has given us to new, multi-asset talent pools in global financial markets,” said Dias.
“By building hybrid teams of locally sourced talent and international transfers, we’ve been able to establish an exceptional group of colleagues with existing local relationships and deep jurisdictional knowledge, while maintaining clarity and consistency of the fund’s purpose and culture,” he said.
EXPANSION TREND
AwareSuper, Australia's third-largest superannuation fund, is also expanding its reach overseas with the establishment of its first international office in London.
The fund also has plans to open a second office in North America in the coming years. The London office will initially focus on investments in private equity, property, and infrastructure across the UK, Europe, and North America.
The London office is set to open by November, while the North American office is expected to follow within the next few years.
AwareSuper aims to double its offshore real estate exposure to 40% over the next three to five years.
Michael Winchester, head of investment strategy, stated that the decision to establish an office in the UK was due to its status as one of the world's most important developed capital markets.
With a physical presence in London, AwareSuper intends to leverage existing networks and investment partnerships to identify strong opportunities in property, infrastructure, and private equity.
The London office is set to open by November, while the North American office is expected to follow within the next few years.
In the same vein as AustralianSuper, AwareSuper is strategically diversifying its portfolio to generate strong risk-adjusted returns.
By establishing offices in London and eventually in North America, the fund aims to tap into international markets and capitalise on investment opportunities in various sectors.
AwareSuper manages assets worth $102.58 billion and has outlined plans to increase its assets to $160 billion by 2026.