The $13.5 billion Cbus industry fund has appointed a new global equity manager to replenish its ranks, after withdrawing from AllianceBernstein earlier this year.

Cbus has just transitioned a $200 million mandate to Lazard Asset Management’s Global Thematic (ex-Australia) Fund, with investments & governance manager Trish Donohue saying the long-term, benchmark-unaware nature of the strategy appealed.

The Lazard fund returned a gross -3.5 per cent for the three years to September 30, making it top quartile among core global equity funds marketed in Australia, whose median performance was -9.6 per cent for that time period.

Another of Cbus’ global equity mandates is with Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Global Franchise Fund, which it is understood to be reviewing following Hassan Elmasry’s team departing to set up a boutique earlier this year.