The changes are part of MLC’s continuous assessments of its multi-manager strategies and are designed to further align the manager arrangements with the objectives of each fund.

Peter Sumner, MLC Investment Management’s Australian equities Portfolio Manager said, “Previously we have managed the Australian equities component of the Horizon portfolios and our Australian share sector fund as a single strategy. Both strategies employed the same managers with the same mandates.

“Going forward we believe clients’ interests will be better served by separating these strategies. The diversified funds and the sector fund play separate roles within a client’s portfolio and clients want different things from each of them. We therefore believe it is appropriate to separate the strategies, allowing them to respond independently to changing market conditions.

“Both strategies will retain their access to a suite of high calibre Australian equities active managers and will benefit from cost and tax efficiencies that MLC is able to achieve.”

As part of the strategy changes MLC Investment Management has terminated the mandates of Lazard Asset Management and Contango Asset Management. No new managers are being appointed and the portfolios have been reweighted across the remaining eight managers.

“While both the diversified funds’ strategy and the sector fund’s strategy will initially employ the same managers, the manager allocations for the two strategies and some manager mandates differ,” added Sumner.

Under the new arrangements each strategy will have the flexibility to make independent manager appointments, manager weightings and mandates as required.

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