Up to $850 million in unlisted property mandates from super funds will hit the market if the Trinity Funds Management investment advisory board acts on its intention to seek new managers for mandates currently held by the property group.
The board, set up in mid-2008 to represent investors in Trinity’s funds, recommended that a tender be undertaken to find new managers for the assets in the wake of the success fee scandal that has hit the property group.
The Australian newspaper last week revealed that Ross Daley of powerful
Queensland lobby group Enhance Corporate was paid a $1 million ‘success fee’ by Trinity after the manager was awarded a $100 million mandate from Sunsuper in late 2008. Daley was a former Queensland Labor staffer while Keith De Lacy, the former Queensland treasurer, was chair of Trinity until forced to stand down by the scandal last week.
Tony Lally, chief executive officer of Sunsuper, said the fund consulted its team after the story broke and found there was no contact between Daley and Sunsuper staff.
David Hartley, chief investment officer at the fund, said neither he or his portfolio managers knew Daley.
“I can’t see what influence he had and what he was paid for,” Hartley said.
“It looks like he got paid $1 million for nothing.”
Members of the investment advisory board include representatives of significant investors in Trinity funds, such as Megan Chan, portfolio manager of property and infrastructure investments at Sunsuper; John Coombe, executive director of JANA Investment Advisors, which has many clients are invested in Trinity; and Craig Stevens, chief executive officer of Austsafe.
