Catholic Super has terminated an international equities mandate with Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in favour of three boutique managers.
Roughly $120 million managed by BGI has been split evenly between three offshore boutiques: Pzena Investment Management, a value manager based in New York; Generation Investment Management, a growth manger based in London; and Taube Hodson Stonex, a thematic, core-growth manager also from London. Bill Currey, investment officer at Catholic Super, said that there had been a trend towards boutique managers at the fund. “BGI haven’t done too badly, but we tend to prefer smaller boutiques to large firms,” he said. “[By investing with boutiques,] we are hoping to get better performance, despite the fact they may be a bit more expensive.” The funds are to manage international equities, and possibly some cash holdings, Currey said.
There is one investment area where Insignia’s $180 billion super arm has not lost money for the past 17 years, which is what it calls the insurance-related investments. The alternatives strategy is gaining popularity among asset owners due to its diversification benefit, but Insignia’s super and asset management investment chief Dan Farmer warns it is a space where investors can suffer if they “stumble in without doing the homework”.
Darcy SongJanuary 23, 2025
