Mercer Global Investments (MGI) has redeemed Australian small cap equities mandates with two big institutions in preference for boutique managers.
MGI’s $12 billion multi-manager fund has culled Colonial First State (CFS) and Grantham, Mayo and van Otterloo (GMO) from its Australian small cap shares portfolio and assigned boutiques Northcape and Kosmos in their place. Adam Smith Asset Management, the remaining Australian small cap equities manager in Mercer’s portfolio, retained its mandate. While Adam Smith is a value manager, both Northcape and Kosmos run core/growth manadates for MGI. Kosmos was founded in January by two ex-CFS senior portfolio managers, Anthony Vourdanos and Tom Plodr. MGI’s redemption of its small caps mandate with the duo’s former shop and subsequent funding of Kosmos echoed the recent moves of two super funds for maritime workers, the Stevedoring Employees Retirement Fund and Seafarers Retirement Fund, which withdrew small-caps money from CFS and funded Kosmos in August.
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
