Suncorp has closed its new long/short trust at just $200 million following a $150 million mandate win from the Australian Reward Investment Alliance (ARIA).

John Hamer, Suncorp institutional business development manager, said the cap was more a soft limit rather than a hard close. “Rather than making something set in concrete we just want to pause at $200 million and digest it,” Hamer said. Suncorp has been running a long short mandate, managed by Denis Donohue, head of Australian equities, since March 2002. That portfolio returned 30.57 per cent over the 12 months to end July and 28.13 per cent per annum over the three years to end July, against S&P/ASX 200 returns of 18.71 per cent and 21.96 per cent respectively. “We want to ensure we can still get opportunities where we can short the stocks we want to go short on,” Hamer said. On the back of the success of the long/short capability Suncorp decided to launch a trust last November. The $200 million cap on the long/short fund is an ‘extreme example’, according to Hamer who says the manager’s other funds are not capped at similar levels. But the manager did not want to run the risk of taking on too much too soon. Suncorp manages just over $4 billion in total funds under management and has said it will cap entire funds under management at 1 per cent of Australian market capitalisation.