Australian superannuation funds are eyeing French and United Kingdom investments amid continuing geopolitical tensions with the US.
A delegation comprising of IFM Investors AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super, CBUS, HESTA, Rest, and Super Members Council is meeting in France from April 20-22 to discuss long-term Australian pension investments.
They will meet with senior French political leaders, public financial institutions, infrastructure operators, private investors and the OECD.
They will then head to the UK on April 23 to discuss investment opportunities with the UK government.
The Australian Super sector manages $4.5 trillion in savings, making it the second largest pension scheme in the world next to the US, IFM Investors says; NEST, the UK’s largest workplace pension scheme and shareholder in IFM, is also part of the delegation.
IFM Investors says that in the next five years, Australia’s superannuation pool will become the largest outside the US.
SUPERANNUATION SIGHTS WIDEN
IFM Investors says recent events are highlighting the importance of global diversification with France and the UK now attractive as investment destinations that are able to deliver long-term retirement savings.
“Australia, France and the UK are like-minded partners, with strong institutions and a long track record of collaboration in energy and infrastructure,” a company statement reads.
“In a period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, deeper co-operation between like-minded countries has never been so important.”
IFM Investors says Aussie Super funds have already invested in French and UK infrastructure through the likes of ERG (a European renewable energy operator with 605MW of installed wind capacity, 128MW of solar capacity) and Atlas Arteria, which operates 2424km of toll roads in France.
Funds also invest in euNetworks (which backs the expansion of digital infrastructure across Europe), Oxford Properties M7 Real Estate platform and its €840 million (A$1.38 trillion) European industrial and logistics portfolio, as well as key projects in London like King’s Cross Estate and the Canada Water regeneration.
IFM Investors predicts that Australian super investment in the European Union and the UK could surpass the A$660 billion mark in 10 years with spending on infrastructure projects.
Last month, an Australian Super delegation visited the US to examine investment opportunities with summits held in San Francisco, Washington DC and New York.
MORE SUPER NEWS: Aussies keeping a closer eye on their funds
