The $410 billion AustralianSuper has been dialling back its fixed income allocation in favour of growth assets as it positions for a “constructive” economic environment, but the asset class remains a critical portfolio stabiliser and an important tool in complementing the fund’s risk objectives. Head of fixed income and currency Katie Dean talks scale and internalisation advantages.
After attending the Advice Policy Summit in February, hosted by Investment Magazine sister publication Professional Planner, executive director of the Conexus Institute David Bell reflects on the roles of super funds, financial advisers and the government in an evolving retirement landscape, and how these sectors failing to work together will result in an unstable and vulnerable ecosystem and eventually hurt retirees.
Renowned geopolitics expert Stephen Kotkin says the Trump administration’s strikes on Iran are the latest chapter in a 47-year declared war — not its cause — but warns that destroying Iranian military capability without cultivating a credible political alternative risks prolonging, not ending, the conflict. Kotkin, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford … Read more
The $100 billion profit-to-member fund Rest Super is mulling an expansion and upgrade of its investment team as it seeks new ways to invest a growing pool of assets and continue to generate competitive performance for its 2.1 million members. The fund’s newly appointed chief investment officer Michael Clancy tells Investment Magazine that staying connected to the fund’s membership is an important part of the job.
The Albanese government is exploring legislative options to stop domestic violence abusers from gaining control of their victims’ superannuation through death benefits. While this could give trustees greater discretion in assessing a deceased member’s circumstances, complicated cases may add further strains to an already stressed payout process.
Momentum is building within the sector for super funds to move beyond a traditionally risk-averse culture to one that encourages well-managed risk-taking, especially around designing innovative retirement income products for members, according to latest survey from FEAL.
If anyone needs a measure of the superannuation system’s growing clout in global geopolitics, look no further than Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to prioritise a meeting with industry super fund bosses in Sydney over meeting the Australian Prime Minister. It’s a reminder that in the face of an increasingly hostile relationship with the US, the so-called “middle power” nations are using pension capital to rewrite the rules.
Funds wanting to earn an “Epic Retirement Tick” from the Epic Retirement Institute and researcher Chant West will face more stringent criteria from later this year. Institute founder Bec Wilson and Chant West general manager Ian Fryer say that funds are starting now to improve their services in response to the original criteria, after initial hostility to the consumer-facing assessment tool.
Aware Super has driven a significant increase in the number of retired members drawing down more than the minimum amount from their account-based pensions, in the pilot phase of a new digital advice platform. The $210 billion profit-to-member fund expects the impact to be replicated when it makes the platform available to all members.
NGS Super chief investment officer Ben Squires wants the fund to become not just a top quartile but the best-performing super fund in Australia. In an interview with Investment Magazine, he outlines how the fund is betting on deeper in-house capabilities and enhanced data access to get there.
Digitisation and tokenisation are widely touted for their potential in cutting transaction costs and smoothing settlement frictions, but the technology’s real pay-off will come from promoting deeper market liquidity and higher market participation over the long-term, according to a new report from the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre.
Top industry fund, platform and insurance CEOs have advocated for advancing the drawn-out advice reforms, arguing it is critical for the industry to deliver appropriate advice and guidance at scale and adding capacity into the system, which will help prevent Australians from falling into the clutches of scammers and fraudsters.
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