Hermes Pensions Management, the funds manager for the £32 billion ($56.6 billion) BT Pensions Scheme, will target superannuation funds as it markets its range of boutiques to institutions worldwide.

Superannuation funds will be included in Hermes’ marketing efforts as it attempts to attract institutions to its range of boutiques, which implement strategies in global equities, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and small companies markets, in addition to its well-known activist funds, Saker Nusseibeh, head of investment at the manager, said.

“We are looking to increase our presence in Australia,” Nusseibeh said.

Hermes is understood to be in discussions with third-party marketer Plus Capital Investment Management, which already represents the Hermes BPK hedge fund-of-funds, to increase its marketing efforts in Australia ahead of a visit from Nusseibeh in February.

Plus Capital is run by two directors: Neil Wild, former head of marketing at Pioneer Global Investments in Australia, and Michael Dorph, who previously worked in the equities derivatives department of Westpac.

Hermes staffs distribution teams in the UK, Europe and the US, and has also appointed a third-party fundraising firm to operate in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Nusseibeh was confident the Hermes funds would attract external institutional money because their strategies were proven to be aligned with long-term institutional investors, since BT owned and invested in all the boutiques.

If the funds do raise external money, Hermes should become a more profitable asset for BT, providing capital value for the fund in addition to investment returns, Nusseibeh added.