Industry veteran Richard Brandweiner has been appointed as the next chief investment officer of Australia’s sovereign wealth fund. Brandweiner, who has long argued that institutional capital has an obligation to shape the Australian economy, joins the Future Fund as it navigates an expanded mandate to invest in areas of national priority.
Diversa Trustees has applied to the government for a bailout of First Guardian investors worth approximately $239 million, arguing the losses were a result of fraud and it will be in the best financial interest to members.
The Conexus Institute executive director, Dr David Bell, and research fellow, Dr Geoff Warren, discuss key legislative reforms currently in the pipeline that need to be expedited by the government to support funds in their development of better outcomes for members.
There is broad consensus in industry and Canberra that the collapses of the Shield and First Guardian master funds – and failures that led to them – demand a regulatory response. But getting that response wrong could create an uneven playing field in the industry and some counterproductive consumer outcomes.
Super funds and their members could be exposed to returns turning out to be poor over an extended period. Were that to happen, confidence in the system itself could be shaken.
New AMP CEO Blair Vernon says that he will work hard to bolster its corporate super offering and gain back the market share it has lost to competitors like Australian Retirement Trust in recent years as part of a “relentless” focus on returning the master trust to positive inflow.
Extended periods of market weakness are not as rare as often thought. With growth asset exposure approaching 75 per cent for APRA-regulated funds, the industry and members could be exposed to returns turning out to be poor over an extended period.
The appointment of profit-to-member mainstay Robbie Campo to the CEO role at the $100 billion HESTA comes with the fund under increasing pressure relating to its relationship with Grow Inc. and the industry-wide acceleration of outflows to platforms.
More regulation is needed to address consumer harm arising from SMSFs and the Financial Accountability Regime should apply even to platforms that outsource their super trustee in order to close governance gaps, according to Insignia Financial CEO Scott Hartley.
Produced in partnership with Royal London Asset Management. Delays and multiple rounds of consultation on financial advice law reform stretching back more than three years have left the industry disillusioned, and a growing number of super fund members entering retirement in a state of uncertainty and without the full benefits of appropriate guidance, let alone … Read more
Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Dr Daniel Mulino writes exclusively for Retirement Magazine that superannuation fund members deserve a dignified retirement, consistent with the objective of super, and it is well past time to move the public conversation from super providing a lump sum to it being the source of ongoing and reliable income.
The $335 billion Future Fund is hoping to find tens of millions in cost savings by consolidating arrangements with external data and tech providers and putting a number of roles under review as it reconsiders resourcing in a volatile investment environment that it “expects to endure”.
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Investment Magazine provides in-depth, monthly analysis of trends and developments for all the businesses in which superannuation funds engage‚ including asset allocation, investment manager selection, custody and fund accounting, member administration, group insurance and compliance.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land upon which Conexus Financial sits, the Cadigal of the Eora Nation. We recognise their continuing connection and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and community. We pay our deepest respects to them and their culture, and to Elders both past and present.
