AustralianSuper boosting foreign property assets

Australia’s largest superannuation fund is seeking to ramp up its exposure to global real estate, potentially to reach a third of its sector holdings within five years.

Jack McGougan, head of property for the A$75 billion ($70 billion) AustralianSuper, notes that the fund has just under A$6 billion invested in property at present, or 8.6% of its assets. It plans to raise this to 10% of overall AUM.

McGougan (pictured) says the way it aims to do this is to take a more global perspective both in making direct investments and in dishing out management mandates.

Just this month AusSuper awarded a mandate to manage a central London office property investment to TIAA Henderson Real Estate, a joint venture between TIAA-CREF and Henderson Global Investors. It is also set to announce a retail and office property mandate for continental Europe.