Investment Strategy
Super funds shrug off divestment pressure
Australia's superannuation industry won’t be divesting from fossil fuels anytime soon. Instead, funds including Cbus and First State Super are reviewing investment strategies that transition to a low-carbon economy.
Sarah JonesFebruary 19, 2020
Retirement Conference
Rubinsztein: Super needs tweaking, not overhaul
Nicolette Rubinsztein said Mercer's call for a universal age pension, scrapping the means tests and keeping the superannuation guarantee steady was the wrong way to go.
Elizabeth FryFebruary 19, 2020
Investment Operations
Performance fee errors lead to negative operational alpha
In a busy cost-pressured environments performance fee calculations can get overlooked and errors can compound quickly, especially with daily priced funds, says Castle Hall's Alex Wise.
Alex WiseFebruary 19, 2020
Roundtables
The cost of secondary mental health conditions
One in five Australians in any year will experience a mental health issue. What is less well known is that secondary conditions are a bigger problem.
Sarah JonesFebruary 17, 2020
ESG
Climate inaction is expensive
If this current Australian summer of bush fires should be teaching us anything, it’s that climate inaction is expensive, says RIAA's Simon O'Connor.
Simon O'ConnorFebruary 17, 2020
Operations
AusSuper weighs bringing more ops in-house
The country’s largest superannuation fund is weighing whether to bring more investment operations in-house particularly when it comes to private assets.
Sarah JonesFebruary 14, 2020
Operations
Asset owners upgrade oversight of externally-managed assets
Superannuation funds globally are moving towards full control and oversight of their externally-managed assets by tracking unit price changes in real time amidst increased regulatory scrutiny.
Elizabeth FryFebruary 14, 2020
Operations
Mine Super: Seeking operational alpha
Since Mine Super’s Seamus Collins stepped into the chief investment role last April, the former head of portfolio implementation has focused on boosting returns by generating operational alpha.
Elizabeth FryFebruary 14, 2020
Governance
ASIC makes product design a priority
ASIC superannuation executive leader, Jane Eccleston warned superannuation trustees to step up efforts to understand, measure and deliver good outcomes for members.
Elizabeth FryFebruary 12, 2020
Governance
APRA will struggle to include Choice super products in heatmap
There is skepticism that the prudential regulator will succeed in benchmarking the performance of Choice products, particularly as it is struggling to collect meaningful and comparable data across the 90 or so MySuper products.
Eva ScheerlinckFebruary 5, 2020
Governance
ASIC cements position as top conduct cop
The corporate watchdog has shored up its position as Australia’s top conduct cop in superannuation, with increased powers to tackle misconduct in a toughening regulatory environment.
Elizabeth FryJanuary 31, 2020
Investment Strategy
Future Fund sticks with hedge funds
Australia’s $168 billion Future Fund is looking to add more money to its $22.6 billion hedge fund program where it can find managers with spare capacity, to help protect the portfolio against a sell-off in the equity market.
Sarah JonesJanuary 28, 2020
Investment Strategy
VicSuper: Getting to grips with sustainable PE
An increasing number of super funds are looking to invest sustainably across their portfolio but a yawning data gap for private equity and until recently, sovereign bonds, has held them back.
Elizabeth FryJanuary 28, 2020
Investment Strategy
Victoria’s sovereign wealth fund hires new ESG and tech executives
The $65 billion VFMC has appointed former Vanguard executive Keli Saville to run digital and technology and the high-profile Talieh Williams to head up investment stewardship.
Elizabeth FryJanuary 22, 2020
Sponsored Content
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DISASTER RECOVERY: THE RIGHT SUPPORT AT THE RIGHT TIME
With so many Australians impacted by the devastating bushfires this summer, AIA Australia wants to ensure that we’re ready to support our customers when they need us most. We know we have many customers who live in fire affected areas and already have claims with us. In addition to this, we recognise we are likely to receive more claims in coming weeks and months.
February 25, 2020
Private Credit Forum
Suitable for: Heads of fixed income and credit, portfolio managers, CIOs and asset consultants
The private credit forum provides an examination of the opportunities and the factors affecting the increasingly broad spectrum of loans and credit both domestically and internationally. This forum will cover the market conditions and opportunity sets across all forms of asset backed securities, such as collateralised debt obligations and mortgaged back securities.
February 26, 2020
Real Estate Conference
Suitable for: Heads of real estate and real assets, portfolio managers, CIOs and asset consultants
The real estate conference is designed to examine economic conditions and market factors affecting investment in global residential, retail, office and other commercial real estate. The conference regularly covers issues of governance, the impact of demographic change, technology and what to invest in the capital stack.
March 31, 2020
Retirement Conference
SUITABLE FOR: Chief executives, chief investment officers and heads of product and personnel working in member services and advice of Superannuation funds
Leadership
2020 Super fund salary survey
UniSuper's investment chief John Pearce is the highest-paid executive among Australia’s industry superannuation funds and is one of 10 people to take home a pay packet of more than $1 million.
Elizabeth Fry and Sarah JonesFebruary 12, 2020
Leadership
Million-dollar payouts
As the industry consolidates into bigger funds overseeing hundreds of billions of dollars, the average remuneration packages will also likely climb.
Sarah JonesFebruary 10, 2020
Leadership
Base salaries set to climb as regulation bites
Base salaries for superannuation fund executives will likely increase because of new rules that will likely constrain short-term bonus payouts, according to Michael Moses, a principal in Mercer’s remuneration consulting practice.
Elizabeth FryFebruary 10, 2020
Insurance
Hidden super tax to hit members
Legislative reform is needed urgently to fix an unintended tax slug when rolling over super accounts, says John Berrill.
John BerrillJanuary 6, 2020
Insurance
APRA: Claim acceptances at historic highs
APRA’s update on life insurance claims shows a rise in claims acceptance, falling claims time frames and high loss/claims ratios, particularly in group insurance.
John BerrillDecember 4, 2019
Insurance
AIA and CommInsure join forces
AIA has partnered with Commonwealth Bank’s life insurance business to operate as one entity as it waits for its purchase of CommInsure Life to be completed.
Elizabeth FryNovember 1, 2019
Retirement
No room for opinion in retirement review
The Retirement Income Review is seeking facts from the industry which can be difficult to distinguish from beliefs in a complex retirement system, says David Bell, executive director of the Conexus Institute.
David BellFebruary 3, 2020
Retirement
ANU weighs increase to super guarantee
An increase in the SG to 12 per cent is only justified if it helps replace the age pension as more retirees become self funded or it helps members to self-insure against risk, a report shows.
Elizabeth FryJanuary 15, 2020
Retirement
Trafford-Walker sees ‘jump down’ in super fees
Australians have long been slugged with high superannuation fees but charges are starting to drop as asset owners bring investment teams in-house, says Frontier's Fiona Trafford-Walker.
Elizabeth FryNovember 27, 2019
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