Tasmanian industry superannuation fund Tasplan has ended a longstanding relationship with equity manager Maple-Brown Abbott (MBA), awarding a $90 million mandate to Tyndall.
The change was made following a review by asset consultant Mercer and as a result Tyndall replaced MBA as an Australian equities value-style manager.
"MBA achieved some strong performance figures in recent times. However, it was felt that the time was appropriate for a change to be made to the portfolio to get the mix of managers right for the next period in Tasplan's growth," Tasplan general manager Neil Cassidy said.
According to Cassidy, MBA was a major factor in the fund's flagship Balanced option receiving a return of -7.7 per cent for the year ended 30 June 2009.
Tasplan's relationship with MBA stretches back to 1996.
"The decision reinforces the Tasplan board's philosophy of selecting a manager based on a number of factors other than purely on performance," Cassidy said.
In July, Tasplan elected to maintain the status quo after conducting liquidity stress testing on its portfolio for the first time.
"We have not gone through the process before, but the results show that we are well placed and has confirmed our positions," Cassidy said.
As a result, Tasplan had no immediate plans to make changes to its investment portfolio. However, at the time Cassidy would not rule out future alterations.
