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University of Sydney Professorial Superannuation System
The University of Sydney Professorial Superannuation System is the legacy defined-benefit pension vehicle for senior academics at Australia's oldest...
University of Sydney Professorial Superannuation System
The University of Sydney Professorial Superannuation System is the legacy defined-benefit pension vehicle for senior academics at Australia's oldest university. The fund now functions primarily as a trustee governance layer, with its sponsoring employer remaining the University of Sydney. The board retains fiduciary oversight through a structure chaired by Vincent Plant, supported by a dedicated CEO in Andrew Peterson and a separate audit and compliance chair. The system pursues a fully outsourced investment strategy. Its primary vehicle is the Schroder Strategic Growth Fund – Professional Class, which serves as the core portfolio allocation, alongside a separate operating cash account. The mandate delegates asset allocation, manager selection, and direct security decisions to Schroders, making the University of Sydney professorial scheme an example of a pension fund operating with a fiduciary-management model. The portfolio's asset-class mix, geographic exposures, and specific underlying holdings are driven entirely by the Schroders multi-asset strategy. Governance is split between a trustee board responsible for member outcomes and the external investment manager responsible for execution. The board retains direct control over contribution, distribution, and actuarial monitoring functions while the strategic asset allocation process runs inside Schroders' managed-fund structure. The system maintains no disclosed internal investment team, and recorded relationships show only the trustee directors, the sponsoring university, and the single investment manager. The structural differentiator is the surrender of portfolio discretion to a single external manager without a manager-of-managers layer intervening. While many Australian superannuation funds build large internal investment teams or blend multiple external managers, the professorial system has contracted its entire growth-asset exposure into one institutional share class — a model that eliminates manager-search overhead at the cost of concentrated implementation risk.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Location
Region
Oceania
Country
Australia
City
Melbourne
Corporate office
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Principals
Vincent Plant
Chair of the Trustee Board and Chair of the Investment Committee
Fiona McNabb
Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit & Compliance Committee
Andrew Peterson
Executive Director and CEO of the Trustee entity
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions for the University of Sydney Professorial Superannuation System?
Day-to-day investment decisions are delegated to Schroders, which manages the system's assets through its Schroder Strategic Growth Fund – Professional Class. The trustee board, chaired by Vincent Plant, retains fiduciary oversight and monitors the portfolio's performance and risk exposures. The board does not employ an internal investment team or make direct stock or manager selections.
Is the University of Sydney Professorial Superannuation System open to new members?
The system is a closed corporate defined-benefit plan. Its membership is limited to the legacy cohort of senior academic staff from the University of Sydney. As a closed plan, it does not accept new contributors and is focused on managing the runoff of existing liabilities through its fully outsourced investment arrangement with Schroders.
How is the system governed, and what is the trustee structure?
Governance rests with a trustee board that includes Vincent Plant as chair of both the board and the investment committee, Andrew Peterson as executive director and CEO, and Fiona McNabb as chair of the audit and compliance committee. The University of Sydney is the sponsoring employer. The board oversees actuarial, compliance, and member-distribution functions while Schroders executes the portfolio.
What investment strategy does the fund follow?
The system follows a fiduciary-management approach, consolidating its growth assets into the Schroder Strategic Growth Fund – Professional Class, a multi-asset pooled vehicle. This means the fund does not independently select asset classes or underlying managers. Cash for near-term benefit payments is held separately in an operating cash account.
Does the fund disclose its total assets under management?
No. The University of Sydney Professorial Superannuation System does not publicly report its AUM. As a corporate defined-benefit plan in runoff, its portfolio size is a function of remaining member liabilities, contribution history, and investment returns, but the exact figure has not been disclosed in available public sources.
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