UniSuper’s investment team has a new manager for its governance and sustainability responsibilities following the departure of Helga Birgden last month, and will not look to replace departing head of private markets Gary Gabriel in the foreseeable future.
According to UniSuper chief investment officer David St John, Talieh Williams will replace Birgden in January. Williams will leave her current position as manager for sustainability, assurance and advisory services at Ernst and Young. St John said he was pleased to be getting Williams on board, citing an extensive work history with law firm Minter Ellison, Shell Company of Australia, law firm Clayton Utz and consulting firm The Hansen Partnership. St John is not looking to replace Gabriel – who is going to head up private markets for the Future Fund – in UniSuper’s private markets team, but said current manager for private markets, Gautam Rajamani, would be the acting head. “We’ve got a good private markets team with some depth of experience. I’ve put a challenge to the team and I’ve a high degree of confidence in them,” St John said. Former Intech deputy head of manager research Danny Suchowiecki started his new position at the $25 billion fund yesterday as manager for public markets.
The $34 billion Brighter Super is set to shift a significant proportion of equities assets in MySuper from passive to active management. Chief investment officer Mark Rider says the move is possible because of the scale created by mergers, and the fund will be looking to its newly appointed active managers to generate performance through the cycle by taking idiosyncratic risks.
Darcy SongJanuary 21, 2025
