SYDNEY, Aug 17 Reuters Australia39;s thirdlargest pension fund will officially open its first overseas outpost in London in November, a senior company official said, pushing for more private market investments as the sector outgrows the confines of home.

Aware Super, with A160 billion 102 billion in assets, will set up in the district of St. James, popular with hedge funds and private equity firms, and plans to have a team of 14 by year end, according to Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of International Damien Webb, who will relocate to London in October.

Forecast to hit A250 billion in assets by 2026, the fund plans to funnel substantial billions through the new office, which will initially focus on private equity, property and infrastructure in the UK, Europe and North America, Webb told Reuters.

At 250 billion dollars and beyond I think we would start to challenge our real asset pipeline if we thought we could only do direct investments in Australia, said Webb. Real assets include property and infrastructure.

To originate and govern our own investments, we will need a presence overseas at that level of scale to source and manage…those investments.

Aware plans to roughly double offshore real asset exposure to 40 over the next three to five years.

International deals and offices in London or New York are becoming rites of passage for big players in Australia39;s A2.4 trillion pension sector, which is swelling rapidly thanks to laws which set aside 11 of…