Australian superannuation funds allocate more to private equity than their European counterparts, and are poised to increase their offshore private equity investment.

These are the two key conclusions of a survey of 40 major Australian superannuation funds, conducted by John Evans, Associate Professor at the School of Banking & Finance & Actuarial Studies at the Faculty of Commerce and Economics at the University of New South Wales. The survey was sponsored by Zurich-based Adveq Management, the largest independent private equity fund of funds manager in Europe.

The 40 super funds surveyed had more than $120 billion in funds under managemen...