Super Fund Mandate Press Release

5 August 2019

Martin Currie, the specialist active equity manager with a growing Australian institutional client base, has won an Australian equity mandate from a $43 billion superannuation fund.

John Livanas, CEO of State Super (SAS Trustee Corporation) noted that Melbourne-based Martin Currie Australia was selected by State Super’s investment team to manage a large mandate for the team’s innovative retirement-focussed Equity Income strategy.

State Super senior investment manager Andrew Huang said:

"We are focused on meeting the needs of our members, many of whom are approaching retirement age. As our members’ investment horizons continue to narrow, we looked for a manager that strikes an appropriate balance between driving returns while reducing volatility and drawdown risk.

After an extensive search, we chose Martin Currie Australia to work with us. Their Equity Income strategy is a strong fit with our members’ needs. The strategy is focussed on providing high, stable and growing income returns, with lower volatility and drawdowns than the broader market.”

Commenting on the mandate, Reece Birtles, Martin Currie Australia CIO and portfolio manager for the strategy said:

“We launched the Equity Income strategy more than 8 years ago to help address the issues of maintaining and improving the standard of living in retirement. We are pleased that State Super has recognised the potential that our Equity Income strategy has to improve the retirement incomes of its fund members.”

Commenting on the appointment, Kimon Kouryialas, Head of Distribution, APAC for Martin Currie said:

“We’re delighted to have been awarded this mandate and look forward to working closely with State Super in helping them to achieve their objectives for their members.”

“We are continuing to build good momentum with institutional investors and wide recognition of our range of domestic income solutions, and our Asia Pacific Real Income, Value Equity and Core Equity strategies.”