PSP teams up with Blue Sky for Australian real assets

Blue Sky Alternative Investments, an Australia-listed fund manager, is partnering with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board to deploy capital in real assets Down Under.

“Under the strategic agreement, PSP Investments will work with Blue Sky’s real assets team to deploy capital over a multi-year period,” said the firm on a filing with the Australian Stock Exchange.

Blue Sky’s real assets team largely focuses on agricultural and infrastructure investments. Its portfolio includes Australian water assets, agribusiness private equity and agricultural infrastructure under several real assets funds.

The Australian firm described PSP as an institution with a long-term investment horizon, suitable for agricultural-related investment and a dedicated natural resources team. The agreement remains subject to approval by the country’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

Blue Sky expects its assets under management to approach A$4.5 billion ($3.1 and $3.47 billion; €2.6 and €2.93 billion) by June 30 2018, spread across private equity, private real estate and hedge funds, in addition to real assets. Its fee-earning AUM stood at A$3.25 billion as of June 2017.

Last January, the fund manager secured “a significant investment mandate” with LGIASuper to be deployed across real assets. Since inception, the real assets team has achieved investor returns of 15.8 percent per annum, net of fees, as at the end of June 2017, according to its website.