The $6.5 billion REST fund has handed a $100 million mandate to Harris Alternatives – an affiliate of IXIS Asset Management.

According to a statement released yesterday, the $100 million will be invested in the Harris Alternatives Aurora Hedged Equity Offshore Fund – described as a “multi-manager, single strategy investment” fund specialising in global long/short managers Neil Cochrane, REST CEO, said the super fund trustees wanted an absolute return product in its portfolio and were attracted to the lower volatility and diversity achieved through a fund of hedge fund approach. “Harris Alternatives is amongst the best of breed in this sector, and we feel the mandate compliments our investment approach well,” Cochrane said. Karyn West, Managing Director of IXIS Australia, said the Harris fund invests assets across 25 to 30 long/short managers and is diversified by geography, generalists and sector specialists. “This latest mandate win is indicative of the Australian institutional market’s growing appetite for alpha,” West said.