Leader Speak

Andrew Fisher on ART's investment vision and strategy

In the latest edition of 'Leader Speak', we hear from Andrew Fisher of Australian Retirement Trust on the fund's strategic investment vision, the alignment of fund objectives with member expectations, his professional journey and the importance of humility in investing.

What has been the most challenging investment decision in your career, and what did you learn from it?

One of the most challenging decisions I’ve faced was in relation to the first external multi-manager portfolio that I created and managed. Identifying the need to conclude a strategic relationship and reversing a high conviction decision required acknowledging the error and having the courage to act on it, which was difficult but necessary. The experience taught me the importance of humility in investing – being able to change your mind without being anchored to past decisions or ego. To this day, I often share this story with my team to highlight the importance of bringing adaptability and humility into investing – if you get something wrong, having the courage to recognise it and fix it.

Reflecting on your time in both sovereign wealth funds and superannuation funds, what are the key similarities or differences in investment management strategies?

Both sovereign wealth and superannuation funds share strategic advantages: they are large-scale investors with long-term horizons and strong liquidity positions, enabling investments with a strategic horizon that short-term investors often can’t pursue. However, the key difference lies in their client base — sovereign funds serve a single client with a unified objective, while superannuation funds cater to millions of members with diverse financial goals. This diversity requires us to offer multiple investment options tailored to varying risk profiles. A major focus for me, that has underpinned my success in my current role, is seeking to translate the learnings from a disciplined portfolio management process within a sovereign fund into the more complex, choice-driven superannuation environment.

How do you maintain a strong alignment between fund objectives and member expectations as a General Manager?

Direct engagement with members is a critical ingredient and one of the best things about working at a fund like ART – we walk the walk by meeting with members, talking to them and understanding what they need. We encourage our investment teams to interact with members through calls, webinars, and meetings to understand their priorities. This two-way dialogue ensures our investment approach remains aligned with member expectations and fosters mutual understanding of how their money is being invested.

During your tenure as Head of Portfolio Strategy at Sunsuper and later as Head of Investment Strategy at ART, what were the primary challenges you faced in consolidating and optimising portfolios following the merger?

The merger presented significant challenges, particularly in reconciling different comfort levels with change across the two organisations. We navigated this by respecting individual perspectives and avoiding pushing people too far beyond their comfort zones.

Regarding optimising portfolios, I think it is less about the challenges and more about the diversity of experiences that enabled us to succeed. My personal journey prior to the merger, which included spending time at NZ Super, was helpful because I got to see a different way of doing things. So, stepping away from Sunsuper and coming back with fresh perspectives enabled me to have a fresh outlook and appetite for change before we even started thinking about the merger. And that change agility was ultimately a key advantage in enabling me to successfully navigate the most complex merger in Australian superannuation history.

Ultimately, we succeeded in creating better portfolios — not by choosing the best of each, but by identifying superior alternatives through fresh perspectives and collaborative thinking.

How does ART perceive the increasing convergence of public and private markets, and what strategies is the fund adopting to leverage these changes?

ART recognises the growing convergence between public and private markets, particularly given our growing scale, and our recent structural changes reflect that evolution. We’ve shifted from thinking about and managing our fund and teams in separate private/public classifications to thinking about risk-based classifications - so growth, mid risk and defensive assets. This approach empowers our teams to evaluate risk equivalent investments based on merit and benefit for members, regardless of whether they are public or private. By leveraging the benefits of our scale, this strategy positions us to better manage liquidity and deliver optimal outcomes for members.

What prompted ART to establish the role of General Manager of Total Portfolio Management and Resilience, and what are the medium-term objectives?

The role was created to support ART’s next phase of growth and enhance our investment capabilities through a refined operating model. The structure recognises core functional groupings that underpin our current activities, aligning accountabilities with our integrated approach to managing portfolios and supports the continuing evolution of our operations as we strive to deliver world class investment capability.

In terms of objectives, a clear benefit is embedding our resilience capability into our total portfolio management process. One of the organisational beliefs we have is that risk management is a shared responsibility across the investment team, and our goal is to foster a culture of continuous review and improvement. Medium-term, our focus is to uplift all aspects of the total portfolio management cycle – from research to strategy, portfolio construction, implementation, performance analysis, and resilience insights, which in turn drives further research in a continuous cycle of improvement to ensure robust and adaptive investment outcomes.

What is on your podcast listening or reading list?

To be honest, what I listen to, watch and read typically doesn’t have anything to do with investments – because that’s what I do all day. I’ve heard about the importance of thinking, rather than filling every space with noise, so I really prioritise that and just having quiet time. I have recently picked up a book (which I don’t get the chance to do nearly as often as I would like to), which is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? My daughter is currently studying the book at university, and although I’ve seen Blade Runner many times, I’ve never read the book and I’m really enjoying it.