Super funds eye hedge funds
A survey of some of Australia’s biggest superannuation funds has found that they intend to increase their average allocations to hedge funds from 2.5 to 3.5 per cent over the next two to five years, according to a survey by the University of New South Wales Business School.
The survey, commissioned by the Australian chapter of the hedge fund industry body Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), researched the plans of some of Australia’s major superannuation funds.
The survey found that almost 70 per cent of the respondents had existing investments in hedge funds, and that investment in hedge funds was likely to grow by 1 per cent, or $1 billion.
AIMA chairman Kim Ivey said that the growing attraction to hedge funds could be explained by their increasing transparency and the superannuation funds’ desire to tactically rebalance their portfolio strategies away from equities and property.
The survey found that a lack of transparency is the single biggest obstacle to superannuation funds increasing their investments in hedge funds.
“AIMA Australia is aware of this concern and we have been promoting standardised and more transparent disclosure guidelines to our hedge fund managers for the past 18 months,” Ivey said.
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