Guardians farewells head of asset allocation

The Guardians of NZ Super has named a new head of asset allocation to replace Charles Hyde, who is leaving to take up a role abroad.

The manager of the $94 billion NZ super fund has promoted the current head of strategic tilting Alex Bacchus, who will assume the role next month. Over the 17-year tenure at NZ Super, Bacchus has been integral to its strategic tilting programme, which is a mean-reversion investment strategy that has contributed significant returns for the fund.

He also held various senior roles, including acting chief investment officer and acting head of asset allocation between 2021 and 2024 and his current role since 2014.

Prior to joining the Guardians, Bacchus served as director of derivatives at Goldman Sachs JBWere (NZ) and vice president at Merrill Lynch in London, with a focus on structured credit derivatives.

Commenting, Guardians co-chief investment officer Brad Dunstan said it is fortunate to have someone with Bacchus's broad investment knowledge and deep understanding of the fund to step into the pivotal role.

"Asset allocation is one of the most important decisions we make as an investor. Alex's experience across risk, portfolio construction and strategic tilting will be invaluable as we continue to refine and improve the way we invest the fund," Dunstan said.

Dunstan also thanked Hyde for his contribution.

"Charles has expertly guided the evolution of the super fund's globally-influential total portfolio approach and recently finalised a series of important investment governance reviews, including the five-yearly review of the fund's reference portfolio," Dunstan added.

"He leaves the Guardians with our best wishes and our thanks for the excellent contribution he has made over more than a decade."

Since John Williamson's term-extension as chair earlier this year, the fund has continued to make moves within its investment division, including the appointment of a sustainable investment director from Cbus in April and a new head of private equity at the end of June.