AustralianSuper beefs up European management team

Australian pension giant AustralianSuper has beefed up its UK office with six senior hires. Carl Astorri has been appointed head of investments for Europe, while John Normand has been made head of investment strategy. Sujay Shah has been appointed head of internal government portfolios, Deborah Gilshan has been made head of ESG and stewardship for Europe, while William Manfield has been appointed head of group risk, international, and Amanda Mitchell becomes head of corporate affairs for Europe. The appointments mark a considerable expansion of ambition in Europe and the UK for Australia’s largest superannuation fund. Around half of AustralianSuper’s £155bn is currently invested outside of Australia, with more than £20bn of that invested in the UK and Europe. AustralianSuper plans to grow to more than £250bn over the next five years, with almost 70% of inflows being deployed outside Australia. Deputy chief investment officer Damian Moloney said the appointments reflected the region’s long-term importance for the fund. “We are building a high-calibre and experienced team in London to ensure the fund is strategically positioned in a market that will create many opportunities to generate excellent long-term returns for members,” he said. Astorri has been with AustralianSuper in Melbourne since 2015. He returns to London having led the team responsible for asset allocation, equity strategy and macroeconomic research. He was previously global head of economics and asset strategy at Coutts & Co, and before that head of investment strategy at Barclays Wealth. He has also been a Bank of England economist. At AustralianSuper he will build and lead the fund’s London-based investment team as it expands its public and private markets capability. Normand will join the team in late August following 24 years at JP Morgan, where he was most recently head of cross-asset strategy. At AustralianSuper he will lead the asset allocation research team that drives investment strategy across all major asset classes. Shah joins from the Tesco Pension Fund. Gilshan is an ESG investment advisor with more than 22 years’ experience, including more than 18 years at Railpen, Aberdeen Standard Investments and the Co-operative Insurance Society. Manfield joins AustralianSuper from BNP Paribas Asset Management, and Mitchell joins from Macquarie Group. The appointments follow the appointment of former CBRE UK chair Stephen Hubbard to AustralianSuper’s advisory board in March. The pension giant’s biggest investment in the UK to date is its 50/50 joint venture with British Land, formed in March 2022, to accelerate the delivery of the 53-acre Canada Water masterplan. The mixed-use scheme will deliver around 2m sq ft of workspace to accommodate approximately 20,000 jobs, around 1m sq ft  of retail, leisure, entertainment, education and community space, and around 3,000 new net-zero homes, of which 35% will be affordable. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews