Colin Tate AM, founder and managing director of Conexus Financial, publisher of Investment Magazine, speaks to Kristian Fok, chief executive of Cbus, on the sidelines of the Australian Superannuation Investment Summit in Washington, DC. They discussed AI, geopolitics and the importance of in-person learning experiences for fiduciaries in an increasingly digital world. Upcoming Investment Magazine … Read more
Australian pension fund capital is uniquely well-suited to backing long-term global investment trends, but it will work best when it builds partnerships with funds, governments and businesses from like-minded nations. A memorandum of understanding signed by Australian and Canadian pension funds will help set policy to improve investment opportunities.
After a decade of quiet groundwork in Australia, Royal London Asset Management has revamped its fund offerings and hired an experienced funds management leader to build its Australian office, betting that the philosophy that stems from its mutual ownership structure will resonate with member-centric super funds.
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.
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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.
