Key Takeaways
- • Australian Retirement Trust (ART), a $370 billion pension fund and Australia's second-largest, is launching a new equity capital markets desk to pursue deals in the Australian sharemarket.
- • ART has hired a trio of high-profile traders to run the desk, headlined by former Jarden investment banking head Dane Fitzgibbon.
- • The desk is designed to invest more directly in Australian equities and access deals at a lower cost than through ART's predominantly passive index-tracking strategies.
- • Roughly one quarter of ART's portfolio is currently exposed to local shares, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Summary
Australian Retirement Trust, described by the Australian Financial Review as the country's second-largest pension fund with approximately $370 billion in assets, is building a new hedge fund-style equities desk. The unit is intended to allow the fund to invest more directly in the Australian sharemarket and to access transactions at a considerably lower cost than would be possible if trading were left to its predominantly passive index-tracking strategies.
About one quarter of ART's portfolio is currently exposed to Australian shares. The fund has hired three high-profile traders to lead the new equity capital markets desk. The group is headlined by Dane Fitzgibbon, formerly head of investment banking at Jarden.
The move reflects a broader shift among large Australian superannuation funds toward more active, in-house capabilities in domestic equities, where direct deal access can reduce execution costs relative to passive exposure. The original report does not disclose the desk's capital allocation, mandate size, or the names of the other two hires.
About one quarter of ART's portfolio is currently exposed to Australian shares. The fund has hired three high-profile traders to lead the new equity capital markets desk. The group is headlined by Dane Fitzgibbon, formerly head of investment banking at Jarden.
The move reflects a broader shift among large Australian superannuation funds toward more active, in-house capabilities in domestic equities, where direct deal access can reduce execution costs relative to passive exposure. The original report does not disclose the desk's capital allocation, mandate size, or the names of the other two hires.
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