MLC Investment Management (MLC IM) has removed UBS Global Asset Management from its Australian inflation-linked bonds and cut Oaktree Capital Management from its global bank loans.
The termination of the mandates affected the debt strategies in the MLC Horizon Portfolios and MLC Long-Term Absolute Return Portfolio.
"We've removed UBS as an Australian inflation-linked bonds manager, because we don't believe there are material benefits of maintaining a second specialist manager in this asset class given its strategic inflation hedging role within our diversified portfolios and its characteristics of being a relatively small, less liquid and heavily concentrated market, dominated by issuance of government securities," MLC IM portfolio manager Stuart Piper said in an update to investors.
Antares Fixed Income is now the only manager of MLC IM's inflation-linked bonds.
The decision should not be seen as change in conviction in UBS as a manager, Piper said.
"UBS has managed Australian bonds for MLC for more than 25 years and continues to do so," he said.
The transfer of assets within the portfolios did not lead to tax implications for investors, he said.
Oaktree was appointed at the end of 2007 to manage an opportunistic allocation to global bank loans in the MLC Horizon Portfolios in MasterKey superannuation and pension products.
"Given the opportunistic nature of this investment, MLC's exposure to this portfolio has progressively declined over the last year as the underlying loan investments have either matured, been refinanced or have reached price levels justifying their sale," Piper said.
Oaktree's loan exposure has now been fully repaid and this asset class will be managed solely by Shenkman Capital across all of MLC's products.
Oaktree continues to manage a Global High Yield Bond portfolio for MLC.
