AustralianSuper appoints co-heads of Australian equities

AustralianSuper has appointed Andrew Smith and Luke Smith as co-heads of Australian equities, effective immediately.

Both have been jointly leading the Australian equities team on an interim basis following Shaun Manuell's appointment as chief investment officer.

Manuell took over the chief investment role in July after leading the fund's Australian equities team for 13 years.

"As co-heads of Australian equities, Andrew and Luke will be responsible for leading the Australian equities team, shaping investment strategy, driving performance outcomes and further strengthening the fund's investment capability in support of members' long-term retirement outcomes," AustralianSuper said.

Together, they bring decades of investment experience and have played a significant role in building the fund's Australian equities capability, AustralianSuper added.

Andrew joined AustralianSuper in 2013 and was a founding member of its internal Australian equities team. Prior to joining the fund, he was an investment analyst at Equity Trustees for approximately six years.

Luke joined in 2015 and has held a range of portfolio management and leadership roles across the team. He was originally a mining engineer and was the head of Australian mining research at Canaccord Genuity prior to joining AustralianSuper.

International and Australian listed shares were the largest contributors to the performance of AustralianSuper's premixed options during the 2025-26 financial year.

"The Australian shares portfolio continued to outperform its benchmark over both the short and long term. Recent performance was supported by active positions in the energy and materials sectors, as well as underweight exposure to the banking sector," AustralianSuper noted.

Australian shares returned members 10.22% whereas international shares returned 14.46%in the financial year.