The  same thought process goes for equities  and fixed income,” he says.  Rural land and agriculture  investment is also an area of interest  at the moment. The fund has bought  dairy farms locally and aims to diversify  offshore. It has six timber mandates  and three commodities mandates with  external managers.  “The rural opportunity set is quite  an empty field and very difficult for  institutional investors to access,” Orr says.  “We understand it and it plays nicely into  long-term global themes.”  NZ Super also asks managers to run  bespoke portfolios. This can see the fund  replicate the beta of a strategy itself while  the manager invests actively. It also aims  to strike fee structures that match the  tasks at hand.  “We don’t mind paying fees,  especially performance fees, as it  means you’re only paying when they’re  performing,” Orr says. “We negotiate  down base fees but that comes with  the cost of paying higher performance  fees.”