ACT Treasury has appointed Russell Investment Group as the new asset consultant for its two major investment portfolios, replacing incumbent Frontier Investment Consulting.
The two portfolios are a Superannuation Provision Account (SPA), totalling $2.1 billion, and Territory Banking Account (TBA), totalling $900 million. The SPA is like a mini Future Fund, investing in order to fully fund the ACT Government’s public service superannuation liabilities by 2030. It targets a long-term investment return of 5 per cent a year above inflation. The TBA is a pool of the cash balances of the various ACT Government agencies and tends to be invested in short-term money market securities. The ACT Treasury appoints its asset consultants on a fixed-term contract and is required to review and tender the job at the expiry of each contract. Seven consulting firms responded to the latest tender. Meanwhile, Russell has expanded its implementation services unit, which includes the ‘master manager’, transition management and other efficiency-generating services, with the appointment of Campbell McPherson as business development manager. He was previously with the ASX where he was responsible for building European distribution. McPherson is reporting to John Moore, head of implementation services, who said: “This appointment is in just one of several areas where we are looking to expand or localise, including portfolio management and trading, within the next six to twelve months.”
AustralianSuper’s appointment of a general manager, retirement to replace Shawn Blackmore, which follows ART's redeployment of Kathy Vincent to chief operating officer, shows that mega funds are back-pedalling on the strategy of having dedicated retirement C-suite executives. The role had been touted as the next big thing in super funds' organisational structures, but experts say what matters is there is senior accountability for decumulation.
Darcy SongDecember 4, 2024
