HESTA awards $1bn global equity mandate to value fund

Sydney-based fund manager Antipodes Partners has won a $1 billion mandate with leading industry super fund HESTA.

HESTA has invested the cash into the Antipodes Global Long Strategy, which is managed using the fund house’s value-based investment approach. The three critical considerations of  Antipodes’ investment process are starting valuation, an assessment of business resilience and management of portfolio risk.

Steven Semczyszyn, general manager - growth assets at HESTA, said: “The appointment of Antipodes to the Hesta portfolio complements our broader portfolio mix. We are attracted towards Antipodes’ pragmatic approach to valuing companies and program of company engagement.”

Antipodes Global Long Strategy made an annualised total return of 8.8% between launch in July 2015 and the end of July 2022. This compares with an annualised 9.4% from its MSCI AC World benchmark.

VIEW ALL

View all

However, value investing was out of favour for much of these period. Over more recent times, the style has held up better than growth investing with Antipodes Global Long Strategy’s 8.8% loss over 2022 so far outperforming the 11% drop in its benchmark.

Jacob Mitchell, chief investment officer at Antipodes Partners, said: “Our pragmatic value style has delivered positive outcomes for clients by helping to preserve and ultimately grow capital during periods of market volatility, such as those we have recently experienced.

“During a period in which investors are once again being reminded about the importance of starting valuations, I thank HESTA for recognising the effectiveness of our pragmatic value approach and selecting our team to help manage its members’ superannuation.”