Calling it their own ‘long/short strategy’ a group of funds management executives is raising money for charity by either growing or shaving off a moustache.
AMP Capital Investors has appointed Mark O’Brien, an AMP stalwart, as its next chief investment officer, to replace Merv Peacock who retires next month.
The $3 billion MTAA Super Fund, an industry fund which has more than 40 per cent of its assets in private equity and other unlisted investments, has won the Fund of the Year Award for 2005.
Listed financial services company Fiducian is understood to be developing an Indian manage-the-manager product. The product, if launched, would be the second Indian fund available in Australia along with the Fidelity International India Fund, which was made available in September.
A crowded session on ‘Rating the Raters’ at the ASFA conference last week highlighted the unease felt by super funds – and their association – at the growing importance of the fledgling fund ratings sector of the industry
Aon’s financial planning arm has struck a deal with Axa and Comminsure to act as preferred suppliers of life insurance products and will add two or three others to the list soon.
The $10 billion Mercer implemented consulting trusts have backed the trend to using fixed interest managers as high-alpha providers by seeding a new IXIS-Loomis Sayles global absolute return credit opportunities fund with $40 million.
Everest Capital has launched a concentrated closed-ended fund-of-absolute-return funds in conjunction with Babcock & Brown – the Everest Babcock & Brown Masters Fund – for institutional investors.
Fund ratings house S&P has hired three new analysts to cater for its new ratings process and is looking at expanding the team further from mid next year.
The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) is making it easier for financial planners to access CHESS via a new method – Account Participation – which it will launch at this week’s Financial Planning Association conference.
Last month two of the elite dealer groups in the country, Centrestone and Berkley, combined to form Centric Wealth with the aim of becoming the advice brand for the nation’s wealthy. Roger Hancock, who headed up the Canberra Berkley practice, talks about the merger, his own practice and how to keep high net worth clients happy.