LGIAsuper hires new CIO from Equip Super

Brisbane-based superannuation fund LGIAsuper has appointed Troy Rieck as its new chief investment officer.

Rieck joins the superfund from Melbourne-headquartered Equip Super, where he had served as CIO since 2015 and oversaw around A$15 billion ($10.2 billion; €9.2 billion) in assets under management. He will begin his new role on September 23.

LGIAsuper is a not-for-profit industry superfund with its origins as the default fund for Queensland local government employees. It now has approximately A$13 billion in AUM.

The fund’s current CIO, David Todd, is retiring and will stay on until the end of 2019 to help with the transition.

Rieck is from Queensland and worked for QIC for 13 years until 2013, including serving as a managing director for its global multi-asset strategy. He also spent time working with insurance giant Suncorp Group in two separate stints, both in investment management.

LGIAsuper chief executive Kate Farrar said in a statement: “Mr Rieck is a highly skilled and innovative CIO with considerable experience running investments for a large superfund. In his previous role at Equip Super, his key achievements included lowering risk, producing significant cost savings and increasing returns for members.”

In agriculture, LGIAsuper has made several investments in recent years, including a A$112 million commitment to US-based Equilibrium Capital Group’s Controlled Environment Foods Fund, a vehicle that invests in indoor greenhouse-style assets.

The fund had A$71 million committed to the Blue Sky Agriculture Fund (now being managed by the newly-formed Argyle Capital Partners) according to its 2018 annual report. The superfund also owns 100 percent of Mildura Citrus, an aggregation of three medium-scale citrus orchards in Victoria, a macadamia farm in Queensland, and is an investor in the North Queensland Livestock Exchange.

Speaking to Agri Investor in February 2019, Farrar said: “We think water is a strategic asset for Australia and Australian farmers, so we think there’s a lot of opportunity to invest in water here. We’ve also invested in the beneficiaries of water, so for example in a citrus farm.

“We know the agriculture sector pretty well. We opportunistically look for assets that will provide good outcomes for our members, but we do think that agriculture, if you get the right asset, is an attractive asset class in Australia.”