The Future Fund this week appointed Watson Wyatt as its asset consultant, but said it also intended to build a strong internal team.
Paul Costello, who started his job as general manager this month, said that the board chose Watson Wyatt because of its intellectual approach, experience and commitment.
“We felt that Watson Wyatt’s approach was closely aligned with the challenges before us,” he told InvestorDaily.
“We are also putting energy into building an internal capacity and we were confident that Watson Wyatt would work with us as the organisation changed.”
Costello said that no decision had been made on the appointment of a chief investment officer to the Future Fund.
“This is not a race. It’s all about finding the right people. We need to build our own reputation first in order to attract the right people,” he said.
Andre Morony, who stepped down as Aria chief investment officer last week, has been widely touted as a candidate.
The Future Fund board said in a statement on Tuesday that Watson Wyatt would provide “advice on a range of issues including establishing an investment mission and philosophy, the development of the strategic asset allocation for the Fund and setting the transition strategy for entry into financial markets”.
The decision came after a tender process that started in August.
Former Commonwealth Bank of Australia chairman David Murray was appointed chairman of the Future Fund in November 2005.
