BUSS(Q) adds $40m to private equity

After shying away from the asset class, industry superannuation fund BUSS(Q) has beefed up its private equity (PE) allocation to the tune of $40 million.

Connecticut-based global secondary market manager Newbury Partners has received a $20 million mandate and global alternative investment manager Oaktree Capital will also manage a mandate of $20 million.

"We have been holding back in the global PE space and we're glad that we did, but now we have decided to put some money back in," BUSS(Q) chief executive David O'Sullivan said.

Both managers are new to BUSS(Q) and no other changes were made as result of the mandates.

In September last year, O'Sullivan told Investor Weekly that the fund was looking at tweaking its pension investment strategy.

O'Sullivan said the fund was currently undertaking a manager search and was thinking about increasing its allocation to Asian equities.

"We're considering making a specific investment into Asian equity markets ex-Japan," he said.

"We think there is a long-term growth in that area and it will be superior to most of the western economies, so we want to take an overweight position."

- Alice Uribe