Four large industry funds have teamed up and appointed specialist alternative assets adviser, Quentin Ayers, to manage a fund-of-funds focussed on global private equity and infrastructure.
The Local Government Super Scheme NSW (LGSS) is the biggest seeder of the new fund, committing $550 million, while allocations from Energy Industries Super Scheme NSW, Stevedoring Employees Retirement Fund and Seafarers Retirement Fund (SRF) will take it “;up near a billion”;, according to LGSS chief executive Peter Lambert. He said the commitment to alternatives had been decided by the funds some time ago, but a delegate committee had only decided to use a fund-of-funds structure run by Quentin Ayers in the past couple of weeks. The first investment of the new fund-of-funds is currently being transferred – into a distressed debt fund – while a meeting of the delegate committee this Thursday is set to sign off on a second investment, in the domestic opportunistic property arena. The fund secretary of SRF, Glenn Davis, said his fund had earmarked $100 million over three years to the fund-of-funds, which he expected to provide superior returns with lower volatility than listed markets.
Since taking over the top job at the $44 billion Funds SA more than a year ago, chief executive John Piteo has ushered in an investment function overhaul and wrapped up an important stage of the fund’s five-year data transformation program. It pledges to recentre around investment performance and more efficient processes, as the “missing piece” has been found in incoming CIO Con Michalakis.
Darcy SongJanuary 10, 2025
