Premialab expands to Australia as State Super onboards data analytics platform

Australia office opens as leading Australian super fund selects Premialab technology for risk management and portfolio strategy.

August 29, 2023

Australia’s State Super (SAS Trustee Corporation) has selected Premialab - a leading provider of data analytics and risk solutions - to deliver its portfolio management and risk solutions.

Premialab, with offices in Hong Kong, Paris, London, Stockholm, and New York, meanwhile officially opens its doors in Australia this month.

The platform, which was launched in 2016, offers products and services based on datasets provided by 18 investment banks around the world, helping its institutional clients – which include pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and asset managers – to efficiently allocate assets, select strategies, and enhance portfolio returns while controlling risk.

Key client

Head of strategic partnerships and Australia Marc Fisher told FinanceAsia the company was proud to be selected by State Super which is now a key client in Premialab’s growing Australian business.

“Super funds really benefit from such analytical tools because they show objectively, with total clarity, whether a product or fund is worth the fees they’re paying,” he said.

“Either the value will be clear, or, it will be clear that they could get a similar exposure far more cheaply by using ETFs, for example. This delivers benefits all the way through the investment chain.” 

He added that Premialab had received a strong reception in Australia, because “it offers something that has never been available here before”.

 “Our platform can put the microscope over any fund, any product, any strategy, and really understand at an atomic level whether that investment is delivering from a risk perspective, a fee perspective and a strategy perspective for that specific mandate,” he said in a press release.

Growing demand

Premialab co-founder and CEO Pierre Trecourt told FinanceAsia there was increasing demand for data analytics in portfolio management.

“There is an enormous global trend toward systematic investing, particularly for hedging strategies. For the buyside, the ability to monitor and measure their hedging with speed and precision, at global scale, is critical,” he told FA. 

Alan Chan, Senior Investment Manager at State Super, said the fund had chosen Premialab based on its ability to deliver granular, actionable data in real time.

“State Super was established over 100 years ago, and today we remain focussed on ensuring we have the best systems in place to manage our members’ retirement savings in the safest, most efficient way possible,” he said in a press release.

“Premialab demonstrated that they could add capability and efficiency to our processes, and we look forward to working with them.”

Representing $5 trillion in AUM

Premialab claims its multi-asset, multi-region platform processes 5 million data points every day on 4,000-plus investible systematic strategies, with clients assets-under-management (AUM) representing an estimated $5 trillion.

The Premialab platform also delivers faster, more detailed risk management and reporting, including regulatory reporting.

Premialab CEO Adrien Geliot said institutional investors were increasingly looking for greater data capabilities and more robust risk management processes, amid turbulent market conditions and a growing desire for real-time transparency.

"We are delighted to be in Australia and partnering with State Super to deliver our unique capabilities to the Australian superannuation industry,” he said.

Premialab was co-founded by Pierre Trecourt and Adrien Geliot (formerly of Societe Generale, and Julius Baer respectively) in 2016, with the aim of bringing transparency, intuitive data and risk analytics to one of the most complex areas of investment.

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