Bentall Kennedy has been selected as AustralianSuper’s real estate investment advisor in Canada with a mandate to pursue commercial real estate investment opportunities nationwide.

AustralianSuper manages more than AUD $100 billion of members’ assets on behalf of more than two million members from across 210,000 businesses. One in 10 working Australians is a member of AustralianSuper.

The account will include large-scale commercial business district office properties, regional malls and mixed-use development opportunities in Canada’s major urban centres.

“In Bentall Kennedy, we have selected an advisor that offers deep expertise in an important global real estate investment market and will represent our members’ interests according to the highest fiduciary standards,” said Jack McGougan, AustralianSuper’s Head of Property Investments. “Our obligation on behalf of the members that have entrusted us with their retirement savings is to ensure that they know their fund is working to deliver them the best possible retirement outcome as the fund looks to invest in some of the world’s best assets.”

In Australia, employers pay retirement, or ‘super’, contributions of almost 10 per cent of employees’ annual salaries into their super accounts.

“We are well positioned to execute on this mandate on behalf of AustralianSuper’s members through our research driven strategies, our strong commitment to responsible and sustainable investment practices, and a comprehensive knowledge of the Canadian real estate investment market that should offer a consistent, high-quality complement to AustralianSuper’s growing portfolio of direct foreign property holdings,” added Gary Whitelaw, group chief executive officer at Bentall Kennedy.