Monitoring the Managers
The key to our investment approach is disciplined monitoring of not only our current investment managers but also potential new managers to ensure that they fit with the overall circumstances of the Fund and particular circumstances pertaining to each of the Investment options.
The Fund’s investments are managed to ensure the Fund will have sufficient liquidity to meet expected cash flow requirements and that investment risk will be limited by appropriate diversification between and within investment classes.
Our Investment Committee
Our Investment Committee is a sub-committee of the Board and monitor all investments of the Fund and reports to the Trustee Board, the performance of the individual asset classes by measuring them against suitable indices.
Returns of the Fund will be monitored by the Investment Committee in relation to the benchmarks that have been set down with each Investment Manager.
The performance of all our Investment Managers is reviewed at least quarterly by the Investment Committee in consultation with industry experts.
Factors taken into consideration include investment style, resources, organisational strength, investment performance relative to objectives and any other factors relevant to the manager’s continuing ability to meet the Fund’s objectives.
The Investment Committee utilises external advice from Mercer, the Fund's Asset consultants to assist in this regard.
Valuation of unlisted assets
Asset does include some unlisted assets in its investment portfolios. These investments are generally made in the property and private equity area.
Asset requires investment managers to value their unlisted assets regularly. The majority of the Fund’s unlisted assets are valued quarterly but no unlisted asset is valued less often than annually.
The Fund Investment Policy requires that Asset undertakes a thorough due diligence process when choosing unlisted investments. Before choosing an unlisted asset, the Fund assures itself that the investment managers have professional and robust valuation policies and processes in place. Where listed markets do not exist for particular assets the Trustee requires details of the basis and frequency of valuations and assesses the adequacy of each manager’s process in relation to the Fund’s operational and regulatory requirements.
Our Asset Consultants
Asset contracts Mercer to provide asset consulting services. Mercer’s investment consulting business provides advice on investment objectives, investment policy, portfolio construction, investment manager selection and ongoing monitoring services to a broad range of superannuation funds, foundations, charities, insurance groups and other institutional investors.
Mercer’s experienced and highly qualified consultants and analysts are supported by extensive global and local capabilities covering investment strategy, capital markets and manager research.
Mercer not only has one of the best resourced global research teams, but the team is integrated geographically by disciplined processes, regular interaction and purpose-built technology.
Our Custodian
The Trustee has appointed the National Custodial Services, a division of National Australia Bank Limited, to act as Custodian for and on behalf of the Fund.
The Custodian is responsible for the safe custody of all assets of the Fund and reporting on the valuation of these assets to the Trustees, management and the asset consultant on a regular basis.
The Custodian also has the responsibility of calculating weekly unit prices for the various investment options of the Fund in accordance with the Asset Super Unit Pricing Policy.
The Investment Committee will also monitor the performance of the Custodian on an annual basis. |