By Muskan Arora

The $43
billion Funds SA appointed Matt Kempton as acting CIO, following the departure of Richard Friend in May.

In the role,
Kempton will oversee the development and implementation of investment strategy,
investment implementation and management of the fund manager’s investment
options.

The acting
CIO joined Funds SA as director of equities in 2018 and then progressed to
become the deputy CIO in 2021.

Prior to
that, he served as the head of investments at $7 billion ESSSuper for five
years, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of
investment strategy.

He also handled
about $40 billion in defined benefits assets for the State of Victoria.

Before that
he has worked as a consultant at Frontier Advisors and capital transaction
manager at ISPT.

About the asset manager

In the year 2022-23, the returns
ranged from 3% for cash investment option to 12.1% for the Socially Responsible
Investment (SRI) option. The strong performance of the SRI option was due to
its exposure to the technology sector in global equities. 

The long-term returns since
inception in 1995 for Balanced Tax-Exempt investment strategy is 7.9% per annum (p.a.) and
the State’s Defined Benefit strategy has returned 8% p.a.

The firm manages over $41
billion on behalf of its clients which include endowment, superannuation,
insurance and investment. 

(Imagine: Matt
Kempton’s LinkedIn)