Rest invests in ARCHIMED

Profit-to-member superannuation fund Rest has taken another step towards its impact investment target with an investment in specialist private equity firm ARCHIMED. The European-based company invests exclusively in healthcare industries to drive sustainable development and improve people’s health and economic status. ARCHIMED finds, supports, and scales up companies that have a mission to improve health … Read more

ASIC warns super trustees to boost efforts to consolidate duplicate member accounts

ASIC is warning superannuation trustees to effectively consolidate duplicate member accounts after a recent review of nine trustees identified poor practices that led to consumer harm. Of the nine trustees reviewed, three did not have documented business rules for identifying and consolidating multiple accounts on an annual basis across some or all of their funds. … Read more

BlackRock raises over $500m for development of NSW battery

BlackRock Alternatives has raised over $500 million to aid in the development of the NSW Waratah Super Battery. Funds managed by BlackRock’s infrastructure team will also help finance the construction of the WSB, which is a significant component of the project, a System Integrity Protection Scheme designed to act as a ‘shock absorber’ in the … Read more

Spark Financial to launch legacy program

National dealer group Spark Financial will begin operating as a profit-for-purpose organisation when it launches its Spark Legacy Program in the upcoming financial year. The operating model aims to improve financial literacy among young Australians, and Spark will be donating 100 per cent of its profits to nominated charity partners, the first of which will … Read more

AGILE receives ‘approved’ rating from Lonsec

Allianz Retire+ has received an ‘approved’ rating for its longevity solution AGILE from Lonsec Research. Lonsec determined AGILE to be a thoughtfully-considered and well-designed product that can assist retirees in overcoming the longevity risk by providing a steady or rising income stream over an investor’s lifetime. The solution was developed in consultation with the adviser … Read more

AustralianSuper promotes international investments head to deputy CIO

AustralianSuper has promoted head of international investments Damian Moloney to the role of deputy CIO, effective 1 July. Based in AustralianSuper’s London office for the past five years, Moloney had direct responsibility for the build out of the European and US offices, a key part of the fund’s global growth strategy. Moloney will continue to … Read more

Merger of two Adelaide Count advisory firms

Adelaide-based advisory firms, Crosby Dalwood and Warnecke & Co, will merge and be rebranded as Count Adelaide from July 2023. The two businesses bring over 70 years of combined experience in providing accounting and wealth advisory services to South Australians and will be led by managing principal Peter Burrows. The development follows Count’s recent company … Read more

Half of advisers authorised to write MyNorth Lifetime: AMP

Around 50 per cent of Australian advisers are now authorised to write MyNorth Lifetime under their approved product lists and Lifetime accounts have been written by advisers operating under more than 30 different licensees. In a press release from North parent company AMP, the number of advisers using MyNorth Lifetime has grown by 20 advisers … Read more

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine proves the West is not in decline: Stephen Kotkin

The Ukraine invasion is an epic tragedy but also an opportunity for the West to re-discover its values and restore neglected relationships with much of the world, according to Professor Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, academic and author.