The formation of a separate research division by HFA Asset Management two years ago is starting to pay dividends – the hedge fund operator having won a large institutional mandate from the Vision Super super fund.
Vision Super, a $3 billion Victorian-based fund, has awarded HFA $60 million for its international shares fund, a multi-manager long/short equity fund invested across sectors and styles. It is not the first institutional mandate for HFA but the bulk of the firm’s $1.25 billion under management has come from the retail market. Peter Coates, HFA senior investment manager, said monthly retail inflows had been running at between $20 million and $30 million. He said that since the formation of HFA Research as a specialist division, the company had been more proactive in the institutional market. “We have received a great deal of interest in this fund from such groups wishing to reduce their risk to international equities, diversifying away from directional market exposure, into a much more active absolute return-focused fund,” he said. HFA is about to embark on a new raising of about $100 million for its Accelerator Plus Ltd (APL) retail product, which had its first raising of about $85 million last year. APL is an unlisted investment company, however, after the next raising it is expected that HFA will apply for a listing to give investors greater liquidity.
A managed investment scheme holding 20 per cent or more in unlisted assets is deemed an illiquid scheme and is restricted from providing frequent liquidity, but there is no formal limit on how much super funds can allocate to these asset classes. The Conexus Institute writes this is a special privilege given to APRA-regulated super funds that should not be taken for granted.
David Bell and Geoff WarrenFebruary 6, 2025
