capitaLand also circling?, page-22

Investors in the AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund are expected to flex their muscles in the weeks ahead as AMP explores a sale of Collimate Capital Funds Management instead of pursuing a merger.

Investors in the fund were already unhappy with AMP when it was known to be only heading towards a demerger of the unit, previously known as AMP Capital.

But some question how staff and investors will react, now that AMP is understood to be considering a sale of some or all of the business.

While delivering its results recently AMP confirmed it was talking to prospective buyers of the fund, which some believe left the AWOF investors blindsided.


Investor unease centres on corporate governance and a controversial process run last year to determine whether Collimate should remain at the helm of the fund.

The fund is considered the jewel in Collimate’s crown, with more than $7bn worth of offices under its control, including the prestigious Quay Quarter in Sydney and Melbourne’s Collins Place.

Investors, including big super funds, wrote to the trustee board of AWOF through law firm Allens, raising concerns about conflicts of interest in the process.

Some sources believe all of the investors backed the letter except UniSuper, which was keen to see its funds remain under AMP’s control.

Investors have the option to call a meeting to dump AMP as manager, but the complication is that the constitution says this can only happen if it has another manager to nominate as a replacement, says a source.

Any party wanting to take on the management of the fund would want to first conduct due diligence.


Last year, an independent advisory board was formed including high-profile names such as the former Future Fund real estate head Barry Brakey, Wesfarmers director Sharon Warburton and property veteran Paul Say, but they resigned abruptly. The suggestion at the time was they departed after the AWOF trustee board did not accept their recommendations to replace AMP as manager with a rival such as GPT or Mirvac.

A source said AMP changed the nature of the review from considering whether it should be replaced to whether it was doing its job appropriately as the manager of the fund. The trustee board then brought in two other independents – Ming Long and Bob McKinnon.

But this move was criticised by AWOF investors because they held non-executive roles in the broader AMP empire and for that reason were not perceived to be independent.