Willis Towers Watson Australia Global Equity Focus Fund

Willis Towers Watson

Willis Towers Watson Australia has launched its first Australian-domiciled fund, a multi-manager international fund called the Willis Towers Watson Australia Global Equity Focus Fund (GEFF).

The fund aims to offer investors "the best ideas" across global equity markets and has a bench of approximately 20 fund managers which are used for versions of the fund globally.

The managers chosen for GEFF from that bench will depend on a range of factors such as timing, conviction and portfolio construction.

Each manager in the fund has a customised concentrated mandate with Willis Towers Watson, which means the global equity fund offers a unique suite of high-conviction investment opportunities to investors.

"Generally, individual managers won't offer the strategies employed in GEFF, either in pooled or mandates, because of their high level of volatility, in part as this creates business risk for the managers. The multi-manager model allows us to allocate 100% of positions to the managers' best ideas," director of investments Australia, Martin Goss, said.

The fund also incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainable principles through a review of underlying managers' approach to sustainable investing, exclusion of tobacco and controversial weapons and ongoing engagement with companies via a stewardship overlay.