Industry fund Aware Super has increased its target for internally-managed funds, as it seeks to take advantage of the cost savings from in-house management.
In 2021, the industry super fund, which had more than $150 billion in assets under management, said it was targeting 40%.
At the time, it said: “Aware plans to increase the proportion of its internally-managed assets across its portfolios from around 20% to 22% currently to around 40% over the next five years.”
This included Australian equities, international equities, cash and fixed income.
It had now increased this percentage to 50% by 2025, covering all asset classes.
The option of whether to bring fund management in-house or have it managed by external third parties was a divisive decision with some funds opting to have large proportions in-house and others opting out completely.
Australian Retirement Trust and Hostplus have both stated they are avoiding in-house management as they feel it is difficult to retain talent and they can negotiate better deals with external managers.
On the other hand, UniSuper had over 70% of its funds under management managed internally and Australian Super was targeting more than 75% as they believe it reduced investment fees and total costs for members.
Governor Bullock took a more hawkish stance on Tuesday, raising concerns over Trump’s escalating tariffs, which sent economists in different directions with their predictions.
Equity Trustees has announced the appointment of Jocelyn Furlan to the Superannuation Limited (ETSL) and HTFS Nominees Pty Ltd (HTFS) boards, which have oversight of one of the companies’ fastest growing trustee services.
Following growing criticism of the superannuation industry’s influence on capital markets and its increasing exposure to private assets, as well as regulators’ concerns about potential risks to financial stability, ASFA has released new research pushing back on these narratives.
A US-based infrastructure specialist has welcomed the $93 billion fund as a cornerstone investor.