Why Australia's biggest super fund is quietly snapping up media and BNPL stocks

If you've been keeping an eye on the substantial shareholder notices on the ASX lately, one name keeps cropping up: Australian Retirement Trust. The giant pension fund, born from the merger of QSuper and Sunsuper, has been quietly but decisively building positions in two very different local players. We're talking serious money here, not just dabbling at the edges.

The first move that got the city talking was Nine Entertainment. A few weeks back, they nudged their stake over the 6% mark, up from just above 5%. That's a serious chunk of one of the country's media heavyweights, the outfit behind Stan, Domain, and half the newspapers you see on the stands. Then, just days earlier, they popped up on the Zip Co register, taking a touch over 5% of the BNPL firm. Two very different beasts, but the same steady hand on the tiller.

The long game on the ASX

So, what's the thinking? On paper, you've got old-school media battling the digital shift, and a fintech that's been through the wringer as interest rates climbed. But if you've been around the block as long as some of the names tied to the trust's DNA—figures like Richard Offen and the late John Riddoch Poynter, who helped shape how institutions think about protecting capital down under—you know it's about sniffing out value where others see a dumpster fire.

It's the kind of thinking you'd find dog-eared in copies of Trusts Law in Australia or those old The Taxpayers' Guide 2009 & 2010 editions that every self-respecting accountant had on their shelf. The philosophy that blokes like Adrian M. Seager have always preached: ignore the noise, look at what something's actually worth. Don't just follow the herd off a cliff.

With Nine, they're betting the market's got it wrong. Sure, linear TV is a shrinking pie, but the digital assets—Stan has legs, Domain is a genuine property heavyweight—are the real deal. They've been averaging down since the middle of last year, quietly scooping up shares while the fast money was heading for the exits. A classic contrarian play, and one that needs a long leash.

Why Zip caught their eye

The Zip call is the gutsy one. That stock's been hammered—down sharply in the week before ART showed up as a substantial holder. It's the high-risk end of the pool. But this fund isn't some crypto cowboy outfit; they're managing money for hundreds of thousands of members, mostly public sector workers and everyday employees. Their timing was bloody impeccable, filing that notice just as the company was gearing up for its own buyback.

It tells you they've run the rule over the same half-year numbers that spooked everyone else—yes, bad debts ticked up to 1.7%, which grabbed the headlines—and decided the underlying story still holds up. Cash earnings growth pushing 86%, as the boss herself pointed out, that's not to be sniffed at. They're backing the turnaround story, the "new, disciplined approach" spiel, and betting the market has oversold it.

Here's what stands out about their recent shopping spree:

• Backing media's pivot: Pushing past 6% in Nine shows real conviction that the diversified model—streaming, property classifieds, newspapers—can still generate cash in a tough market.
• Fishing in tech's troubled waters: Grabbing 5% of Zip when sentiment is at rock bottom is a textbook "buy when there's blood on the streets" move, funded by those rock-solid member contributions.
• Steady as she goes: In both cases, it wasn't a one-day frenzy. It's been methodical accumulation over months. That's how funds with serious research chops operate, not punting on a hunch.

For the rest of us watching on, seeing a heavyweight like ART make a move is worth noting. It doesn't mean these stocks are going to the moon next week. But it tells you that the sharpest minds in the country—the ones who've probably got Trusts Law precedents bookmarked and old Adrian Seager guides on the shelf—reckon these businesses are worth more than the market's currently paying. They're playing the long game, and in this market, that's a bloody refreshing change.