London base for AustralianSuper new deputy CIO as FUM grow towards $500bn
The nation’s largest pension fund has named a new deputy chief investment officer, based in London, as it gears to manage $500bn of worker’s savings.
Australia’s largest pension fund has named a new deputy chief investment officer based in London, a key position reflecting its increasingly global strategy as it gears to manage $500bn of worker’s savings.
Damian Moloney, who heads international investments for the mega fund, will become deputy CIO from July 1, a new position under deputy chief executive Mark Delaney, who has occupied the CIO seat since AustralianSuper’s inception in 2006.
At the time, Mr Delaney was overseeing $28bn in funds under management. On Wednesday, he said that figure had grown to “almost $300bn”, 16 per cent higher than its reported FUM last financial year.
Helped by annual inflows of about $20bn, that is expected to grow to “$500bn in member assets under management over the next four to five years,” he said.
Mr Moloney will be responsible for AustralianSuper’s expansion plans in the UK, Europe and the US, as well as taking global responsibility for its investment strategy and oversight.
“Damian will play a pivotal role in developing and implementing our model for investing and operating globally in an integrated and efficient way,” Mr Delaney said.
To support its plans to invest over 7 out of every 10 dollars in super savings overseas within a decade (from about 60 per cent today), AustralianSuper is planning to triple its current 100-strong global team.
Over the next three years, the Melbourne-headquartered mega fund expects to have “around 130 (staff) in New York and 160 in London and a small team in Beijing,” Mr Delaney said.
“As we seek to drive long-term performance for members, the Fund is increasingly focused on building its global operations and in-house investment capability, with around 75 per cent of member’s money expected to be managed by internal teams within a decade,” Mr Delaney said.
Before joining AustralianSuper in 2018 to lead the global investment team from London, Mr Moloney was CEO of Frontier Advisors, and IFM Investors.
“AustralianSuper has generated a lot of interest since becoming the first Australian superannuation fund to open global offices,” Mr Moloney said.
“With more and more of AustralianSuper’s assets managed internally and invested overseas, I am looking forward to working with our team across the globe in this new role to efficiently grow our investment footprint and operations,” he said.
“Now is an opportune time to improve global co-ordination.”