The $6.1 billion NSW Local Government Superannuation Scheme (LGSS) has appointed the former head of real estate securities from MacarthurCook as its first chief investment officer.

Craig Turnbull will exit MacarthurCook at the end of June to begin his tenure as the CIO of LGSS on July 2, reporting to chief executive Peter Lambert. The appointment illustrates the fund’s diverging investment strategy from that proposed by FuturePlus, its major asset consultant, which continues to search for a CIO to replace Terry Newson. LGSS is a joint-owner of FuturePlus, a financial services business that services the fund and its other owner, the $3 billion Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme (EISS). Unlike EISS, the LGSS remains invested in direct property and factors sustainability risks into its investment process. To cover Turnbull’s immediate absence, MacarthurCook will move Roberto Versace, who manages Asian and domestic real estate securities funds, into a role focused on Asian portfolios, while Mario Saccoccio will shift from a senior analyst position to fund manager of domestic real estate products. “But we will still look for a replacement head of real estate securities,” Craig Dunstan, MacarthurCook managing director, said. Before his term at MacarthurCook, Turnbull was an investment director at Vertex Capital Management, responsible for the manager’s Relative Value Fund. Prior to that, he was the CIO of Tower Asset Management after working at BT for fourteen years, becoming head of international equities in 1993 when the manager still invested directly in offshore markets.