Both the risk and impact of cyberattacks can be reduced by super funds more formally sharing information with each about incidents, but historical concerns about brand and reputation damage hold the industry back.
The $34 billion Brighter Super is working on enhancing the resilience of its portfolio, making “strategic” moves in its active equity management program and adding more property to its Queensland Investment Strategy.
A willingness to make tough decisions in difficult circumstances characterises the careers of both former Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan AC and the neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo, and will provide the Investment Magazine Insurance in Super Summit with insights into the secrets of effective leadership in a challenging environment.
Submissions to ASIC’s discussion paper on public and private markets highlight a glaring contradiction: super funds, created and nurtured by regulation that has propelled them to more than $3 trillion in assets under management, oppose new regulations that would enhance safeguards around how those assets are managed.
The legitimacy and social licence of superannuation will be at risk if funds do not remain relevant, competitive and trusted by the communities they serve. The future fund CEO will need a stronger external focus, taking on a “chief community engagement” role.
April might have been a market bloodbath, but Australia’s super funds have come out of it with barely a drop on them – and it shouldn’t be surprising.
AMP’s returns for the year ended June 30 were driven by some key tactical moves and frequent rebalancing. But its quantitative dynamic asset allocation model also weighed in, delivering some of its best returns on record. AMP head of portfolio management Stuart Eliot says one of the most important things the fund did during the year was to “trust the model”.
The retail fund delivered double-digit returns to its members by arming itself for the exact investment environment it’s just experienced. But chief investment officer Jonathan Armitage expects returns to moderate from here.
Having learned the first time around that it’s better to react to what US President Donald Trump does rather than to what he says he’ll do, MLC Asset Management chief investment officer Dan Farmer says the best decision of all in the financial year just past was to be ‘boring’.
It was “a good year to be invested here” for the $330 billion Australian Retirement Trust, which has leaned on domestic quiet achievers – and some less quiet achievers – to power its returns.
Relying on super funds to fully embrace their obligations under the Retirement Income Covenant (RIC) will leave significant parts of the industry wallowing with partially developed retirement income strategies a decade after the RIC was introduced. Policymakers and regulators need to do more to help move the industry forward or risk the process slowing to a crawl.
When it comes to retirement, simple questions can have complex answers. UniSuper is leaning on an army of financial advisers to help its members out, and contemplating a change to its longevity solution too.
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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.
