AustralianSuper expands US office and names Head of Americas
AustralianSuper has appointed Mikaël Limpalaër as Head of Americas and he will relocate to the fund’s New York office.
Limpalaër joined AustralianSuper in 2020 and previously was Head of European Private Credit, based in London.
Nick Ward, Head of Private Credit at AustralianSuper, will also relocate to New York. Ward was previously based in Melbourne.
AustralianSuper has about 30 per cent of its members’ assets, or $102 billion, invested in North America and the region is of great strategic importance to the fund and its members, Damian Moloney, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of AustralianSuper, said in a press release.
“To help members achieve their best financial position in retirement we need to have an on the ground presence in global financial centres to access the best quality investment opportunities,” Moloney said.
“By strengthening our senior team in New York, we can continue to build a best-in-class investment platform in the US across Real Assets, Private Credit and Private Equity, with the aim of delivering sustainable long-term performance for more than 3.4 million members.
“We have around 60 professionals in New York and expect the team to grow to more than 120 by 2026,” he said.
In addition to the above relocations, AustralianSuper has made four more appointments to the US office.
Maria Reed has been appointed as Head of Fund Services, Americas. Reed will lead the Fund Services functions for the Americas, supporting the investment teams.
She joins AustralianSuper from BlackRock, where she spent almost a decade, most recently as a Managing Director and Head of Technology and Transformation in the firm’s global Legal & Compliance department.
Damien Mitchell has been appointed as Senior Investment Director, Real Assets. Mitchell will be responsible for energy transition and transportation investments. He joins AustralianSuper from CIM, where he was a First Vice President based in Los Angeles with a focus on energy transition and transportation.
Andrew Osborne has been appointed as Senior Investment Director, Real Assets. Osborne will work on the fund’s legacy property activities in the US. He joins AustralianSuper from the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia based in Riyadh where he was the Head of Strategy for Real Estate and Infrastructure within the Investment Strategy division.
Finally, Matthew Choi has been appointed as Senior Investment Director, Private Credit in the New York office. Choi will lead the fund’s real estate debt investment activities in the Americas, including origination, portfolio management, and overall strategy. He joins AustralianSuper from Granite Point Mortgage Trust where he was a Director responsible for US real estate debt investments.
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