IFM wins mandate to manage assets for US pension fund

The Industry Funds Management mandate represents one of the largest single commitments made in infrastructure by an American pension fund given it still remains a relatively new asset class for US funds.

CalSTRS has nearly $US130 billion under management, mostly in global equities and fixed income. The fund has about 852,000 members.

Industry Funds Management (IFM) is owned by Australia's 16 industry superannuation funds.

The public cannot invest directly in IFM. It manages nearly $30 billion in retirement savings on behalf of more than 5 million members of its super fund owners, which include AustralianSuper, MTAA Super and Cbus.

The CalSTRS mandate involves investing in infrastructure assets across North America and Europe. This will be done in two tranches, the first $US300 million will be invested immediately and the second tranche of $US200 million is expected to be invested in the next 18 months.

The mandate involves investment in a wide range of infrastructure assets, such as regulated utilities and transport.

The CalSTRS chief investment officer, Chris Ailman, said the investment marked an opportunity for the pension fund to partially hedge its inflation risk through infrastructure.

He said the investment was based around the model of Australian superannuation funds.