The $28 billion AustralianSuper terminated mandates with roughly 20 Australian equities managers when it rationalised its active equities allocations in the last fortnight.

A comparison of the current funds manager line-up on AustralianSuper’s website and that in its 2008 annual report indicated that mandates with the following funds, at June 30 2008 valuations, had been terminated in recent months.

– 452 Capital, $376 million;

– Macquarie Investment Management, $1.6 billion, and long/short Australian equities, $230 million;

– Acadian Australian equity, $109 million;

– Alpha Investment Management, $345 million;

– Alliance Capital Management Australia, $293 million;

– Barclays Global Investors long/short Australian equities, $163 million, and Australian alpha equity, $144 million;

– Cannae Capital, $35 million;

– Cooper Investors, $50 million;

– Goldman Sachs JBWere Asset Management, $37 million;

– Greencape Capital, $35 million;

– Integrity Investment Management, $36 million;

– Kinetic Investment Partners, $216 million;

– L1 Capital, $24 million;

– Legg Mason Asset Management, $21 million;

– Renaissance small-caps Australian equities, $110 million;

– Northcape Capital, $36 million;

– Orbis Investment Management, $50 million;

– Platypus Asset Management, $242 million; and

– Vanguard emulation investors, $282 million.

Speaking to I&T News last week, AustralianSuper’s chief investment officer, Mark Delaney, said the terminations were made to reduce overlap and duplication in the domestic equities portfolio.

The redeemed capital was put into a passive product, presumable Industry Funds Management’s 100 leaders index fund, the remaining passive manager of Australian equities listed on the fund’s website.

In total, 50 per cent of AustralianSuper’s equity exposure was now indexed, Delaney said.

He said the managers were let go for portfolio
considerations and was not reflective of their performance.