UniSuper, one of Australia’s largest super funds with more than 620,000 members and over A$115 billion in funds under management has appointed specialist private debt manager, Revolution Asset Management to manage an Australian and New Zealand private debt portfolio.
The separately managed portfolio managed by Revolution Asset Management was established earlier this year and has been steadily deploying capital into senior secured Australian and New Zealand private debt.
Revolution Asset Management seeks to provide stable income from senior secured loans with the most compelling relative value across corporate leveraged loans, private asset backed securities, and real estate loans (excluding construction or development). The strategy is tracking above its target return of cash plus 4% to 5% p.a. (net of fees and expenses) and aims to achieve this return with low volatility.
Revolution’s chief investment officer, Bob Sahota said: “I am delighted on behalf of the team at Revolution Asset Management to have been appointed by a super fund that has a long and proud history of managing the retirement savings for generations of Australians.
“Private debt has been an important component of institutional and wealth portfolios, and in the current uncertain environment can help to further diversify risk and deliver stable income.
“We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship that will grow over the coming years.”
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Revolution said its focus has been on lending to companies that occupy market-leading positions, with high barriers to entry and transparent cashflows, which sustain through the market cycle in leveraged buyout senior secured lending.
In Asset Backed Securities, the focus has been on the more established non-bank lenders that have scale and access to both debt and equity capital if required. Moreover, the pools of loans that Revolution lends against are focused on prime borrowers with high credit scores. These are loan pools that are expected to perform well even under a recessionary scenario.
In real estate lending, Revolution seeks to fund established and stabilised properties in office, retail and industrial sectors with quality tenant cashflow. It is this cashflow that is assessed for debt serviceability and repayment, rather than merely relying on a forward view of valuations.
Revolution Asset Management has raised in excess of A$2.5 billion from institutional, family office and wholesale investors. The Australian and New Zealand Private Debt portfolio is yielding 9.6% (gross return as at 31 March 2023) which is above the stated target of the strategy.
