Future Fund targets $15m in savings, reviews staffing

Future Fund will cut costs by $10 to $15 million in FY27, in a bid to ensure costs and staffing levels remain appropriate for the years ahead.

It expects further savings in subsequent years.

Australia's sovereign wealth fund said it will achieve the goal by maximising the benefits of improved data and technology systems it has developed internally over the years, as well as renegotiating externally provided services.

It will also review 10 roles across investment and non-investment teams to ensure staffing continues to reflect business needs and priorities. Future Fund said in all cases appropriate consultation with relevant staff is being undertaken before decisions about roles are made.

"Overall, the agency's costs and staffing levels are appropriate for the scale and complexity or our investment objectives, but we need to make sure that remains the case," Future Fund chief executive Raphael Arndt said.

"We are now 'baking in' the benefits of the capabilities we have developed and maximising the efficiencies and new insights they deliver while making sure roles remain aligned with business needs."

Arndt said Future Fund has invested heavily in its data, technology, people, processes, and culture in the last five years. It said this has helped generate powerful insights into the investment markets, the risks and opportunities on offer and how it can position portfolios to navigate them.

"Our investment in data and technology and in the systems and ability to use them has been critical to investment performance. We have significantly strengthened the resilience of the investment portfolios to help navigate the volatile investment environment that we expect to endure," Arndt said.

Future Fund has grown by over $96 billion over the last five years, while the total value of funds invested has grown to $335 billion from $218 billion.

"We will continue to assess the resources needed to generate strong-risk adjusted returns in a complex investment environment, making changes where it is prudent to do so," he said.