Prime Super has completed the transition and final line-up of its $340 million Australian equities portfolio, which sees the fund move away from enhanced index strategies to active managers.
The fund terminated mandates with Barclays Global Investors (BGI) and BlackRock.
It has appointed BNY Mellon-affiliated manager Ankura and Macquarie Funds Group, which each manage 36 per cent of the Australian equity portfolio.
In addition, the fund appointed Bennelong Australian Equity Partners and Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which each manage 14 per cent of the portfolio.
"We had previously been invested in enhanced passive listed equity managers, which had not performed to expectations during the recent GFC (global financial crisis)," Prime Super chief executive Lachlan Baird said.
"In addition, the purchase of BGI by BlackRock, our two previous Australian equity managers, necessitated a change to our Australian equity manager line-up.
"This review of the Australian equity manager line-up highlighted that some changes were required, including a move to allocate a meaningful level of exposure away from passive investment styles."
Prime Super continues its use of enhanced index strategies in its $225 million international equity portfolio.
In this portfolio, AQR Global Enhanced Equity manages 35 per cent of the portfolio, Panagora Dynamic Global Equities 35 per cent, MFS Global Equity Trust 15 per cent and Colonial First State Investments-affiliate Real Index Global Equities 15 per cent.
"The changes reflect the strategic decision that enhanced index strategies should continue to drive the majority of the portfolio's excess return, with the residual excess return being derived from other approaches," Baird said.
"These remaining investments reflect investment styles that add meaningfully to a more diversified market portfolio. We see these changes as being a natural evolution of our investment strategy as a result of the recent economic downturn.
"A further key factor in our decision making on this change has been to ensure we retain a low level of fees at the investment manager level and continue to have a focus on after-tax results."
