Mercer nabs multi-sector award

High conviction in the quality and experience of the Mercer Australian investment team was one of the statements made by research house Lonsec hailing Mercer this year’s winner of the Money Management/Lonsec Fund Manager of the Year Multi-Sector award.

It also praised “the manager’s in-depth research, the innovative approach to portfolio construction and the continued evolution of the funds as evidenced by the recent inclusion of ‘real assets’ within the funds”.

Performance wise, Mercer’s Growth Plus Fund returned 22.6 per cent after fees during the 2009 calendar year, performing strongly against the Lonsec peer group of multi-manager and single manager diversified growth funds. In addition, the fund scored well with respect to the qualitative scoring criterion, the research house said.

Explaining Mercer’s investment philosophy, Lonsec said: “The Mercer team’s investment philosophy centres around four pillars: designing portfolios utilising a comprehensive opportunity set, identifying and selecting the next generation best of breed managers, implementing portfolios efficiently and to ensure client needs and expectations are met.”

The research house also praised Mercer’s portfolio construction for its unique qualities: “Mercer has proven to be innovative in its approach to Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA), designing portfolios that are not only well diversified but that are less reliant on traditional beta sources than most managers assessed by Lonsec.”

Gary Burke, head of Australia/NZ Investment Management at Mercer, said the firm believes it offers the most comprehensive range of investment options spanning both diversified portfolios as well as a wide range of sector options, in contrast to its peers.

“We offer the widest set of portfolio ‘building blocks’ at the sector level in the market, which gives us maximum flexibility in portfolio construction. Our sector portfolios include several new specialist sectors such as listed and unlisted infrastructure and natural resources.

"In the wake of the global financial crisis, we have led the industry in developing and implementing a new approach to SAA, which enhances out ability to better manage risk for our investors.”

Last year’s winner, Advance Asset Management, was a finalist in the category alongside Russell Investment Management. Patrick Farrell, head of Advance Investment Solutions, said the firm was delighted to make the shortlist and said it successfully weathered the recent financial storm to perform well in a market experiencing tough conditions.

“There is no doubt the last 12 months were a challenge for all investment managers but despite the turmoil, Advance weathered the storm and emerged stronger for the experience. Our multi-blend funds delivered a strong year of performance with consistent first and upper second quartile results.”

Kathy Cave, portfolio manager at Russell Investment Management, the second finalist in the multi-sector category, said innovation and implementation across the board was one of the reasons for its successful year.

“Enhanced asset allocation and maximising unique strategies has allowed Russell to gain a bit of an edge,” she said.