The $16 billion Sunsuper is making good on its preference for infrastructure debt over equity, awarding $100 million to a Melbourne-based boutique specialist in the asset class, and meanwhile will add an actuary to its ranks who will be responsible for strategy and risk management.

Sunsuper’s entry into the infrastructure debt asset class will be made via Westbourne Capital, whose four-person investment team (lead by David Ridley) and chief operating officer are all former employees of Hastings Funds Management.

Sunsuper chief investment officer, David Hartley, pointed to a slightly unusual mandate structure, in that Westbourne will need to seek approval for certain infrastructure debt investments, in cases where they may conflict with Sunsuper holdings on the equity side of deals.

It’s understood that a recent Sunsuper investment committee meeting may have reduced the strategic asset allocation to infrastructure from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent, however Hartley said whether it had or not was a “moot point”, because the fund was underweight its SAA in all the unlisted asset classes, and any SAA target took a long time to reach in such illiquid markets.

Meanwhile, Sunsuper continues to put its stamp on the hedge fund portfolio whose control was wrested away from Everest Financial Group last year. Hartley said the fund had gone overweight in global macro strategies, as they added the “most diversification” in overall portfolio terms.

Sunsuper’s internal investment team will be bolstered in October with the arrival of Andrew Fisher, an actuary who worked most recently at Milliman. Fisher will contribute to the fund’s strategy and risk management work, and will also have analyst responsibilities in the fixed income and currency areas.