ART’s London office points to growing interest in private markets

ART’s decision to open its first overseas office in London was fuelled by a growing interest in private markets and a desire to capitalise on international investment opportunities.

Back in April this year, the Australian Retirement Trust (ART) announced it had opened its first overseas office in London in a bid to further capitalise on international investment opportunities.

“The plan is to grow our presence in the UK incrementally; we’re not expecting to be a big operation,” a spokesperson told Super Review at the time.

During a recent episode of the Relative Return podcast, ART’s head of advice, Anne Fuchs, shared that the move was driven by key investment opportunities, notably the fund's significant stake in Heathrow Airport.

“We are a significant shareholder in Heathrow Airport and so because we’re such a significant investor and hands-on as shareholders, it was deemed important,” she said.

“But there’s also a lot of opportunities, I guess, overseas … particularly in private markets where we wanted to be closer to the action.”

Fuchs emphasised that ART’s recent mergers have provided the scale necessary for international expansion.

“We couldn’t have had the size and presence that we have without the merger,” she said.

Currently, approximately 40 per cent of ART’s assets are held outside Australia, with over $25 billion invested in the UK and Europe.

Speaking to Super Review last week, Michael Weaver, head of global real assets at Australian Retirement Trust, revealed the fund’s intention to gradually increase its overseas exposure, citing it as a “larger opportunity set”.

“The new London office is currently focused only on infrastructure, though this will expand in coming years,” Weaver said.

This presence, he explained, has been helpful in relation to investments that the fund currently owns, as well as underwriting potential investments.

“The team work with external investment managers to source new investment opportunities for our 2.4 million members,” Weaver said.

He added that ART is particularly focused on making larger investments in infrastructure, which allows the fund to leverage its scale and offer lower fees to its members.

Over the past 18 months, ART has merged with CBA Group Super, Alcoa Super, AVSuper, and Woolworths Group. It’s also recently been announced that Qantas Super will be merging with the fund next year, which will see it welcome another 26,000 members and approximately $9 billion in funds under management.