Being a pioneer equals success

Asset Allocator of the Year 

Winner

MLC Inflation Plus Assertive Portfolio

Finalists

IOOF MultiMix Balanced Growth Trust 
BT Active Balanced Fund

Being a "pioneer in real return investing" and "persistently focusing on controlling risks" has seen MLC take out the Asset Allocator of the Year award.  

The MLC Inflation Plus Assertive Portfolio generated a return of six per cent, plus inflation, over seven-year periods.  

Head of investments at MLC, Susan Gosling, said they were successful as their portfolios were designed to control risks and extract returns, to ultimately protect retirees from significant losses.  

"We look at all the possible things that could happen and what could go wrong...this is what differentiates us," she added.  

As a result, "we could hold more equities", and significant exposures to overseas currencies, Gosling said.  

"Foreign currency exposure was our risk diversifier, and that generated a source of return for us as well", she said.  

Over the last three years, the MLC Inflation Plus Assertive Portfolio generated 9.7 per cent, while over the last five years it returned 8.6 per cent, according to MLC.  

The fund attributed its triumph to investing in "natural catastrophe risks," which did not correlate to the share market and offered an attractive source of investment.    

As such, "insurance related investments" generated a strong return of 7.2 per cent for the portfolio for the year.  

Cash also added 2.6 per cent to the portfolio, while their currency positions in British pounds, US dollars and the Australian dollar also increased the portfolio returns, said MLC.  

IOOF was a finalist for their MultiMix Balanced Growth Trust, which was upgraded from a Lonsec "Q4 fund to a Q1 fund".  

IOOF, portfolio manager, strategy and international equities, Stanley Yeo, said the implementation of a dynamic asset allocation, buying into assets as the first investor and having a great team were the key to their success.  

Another finalist was BT Group, with their BT Active Balanced Fund earned its stripes for generating a 6.57 per cent return over a three-year period.  

BT Investment Management's head of diversified strategies, Martyn Wild, said their active portfolio positioning, with "a tactical over and underweight position" in key asset classes, led to their strong year.