ABN Amro Asset Management is reviewing its administration system, DSTi’s HiPortfolio, but remains committed to keeping the function in-house according to chief executive Ian Manton-Hall.
Manton-Hall said the firm’s recently-hired chief operating officer, Keryn Ferrell, was investigating ABN Amro’s current backoffice system, which is powered by DSTi’s HiPortfolio, to “see if this is the best way to do things”. Ferrell joined ABN Amro in February this year after a stint at Advance Asset Management. “We may stay with HiPortfolio or we may go with some other provider,” he said. “A decision is months away.” In the group’s home territory of Europe, ABN Amro outsources administration to State Street but Manton-Hall confirmed the Australian arm would continue to administer its funds in-house. “We’ve looked at the question from time to time but we’ve always said no [to outsourcing administration],” he said. “I like the fact it is in-sourced, it means we can make decisions in Australia.”
The $34 billion Brighter Super is set to shift a significant proportion of equities assets in MySuper from passive to active management. Chief investment officer Mark Rider says the move is possible because of the scale created by mergers, and the fund will be looking to its newly appointed active managers to generate performance through the cycle by taking idiosyncratic risks.
Darcy SongJanuary 21, 2025
