John Pearce, the chief investment officer of the $170 billion UniSuper, told Investment Magazine ‘s new podcast, the CIO Series, that demographic shifts mean Australia’s super funds are at “peak exposure” to illiquid assets, while the resurgence of the retail platforms could create near-term liquidity constraints.
Canada has established its first national-level sovereign wealth fund with a seed of C$25 billion to underwrite “nation-building” projects like ports, mines and energy infrastructure. In an unusual funding mechanism, the fund will issue a retail product that will allow individual investors to invest with the SWF and “participate in Canada’s growth”.
UniSuper chief investment officer John Pearce believes the traditional business cycle might be dead – and that investors need to reckon with what comes next. Speaking on the first episode of the inaugural season of the Investment Magazine CIO Series, Pearce argued that policymakers have created a regime of permanent stimulus, where any economic slowdown … Read more
TelstraSuper acting CIO Kate Misic has moved to HESTA as head of portfolio design as her old fund enters the final stages of its merger with Aware Super.
APRA-regulated super funds are managing more than $3 trillion in retirement savings that weren’t built for the speed at which material investment decisions now need to be made. Artificial intelligence offers a practical – and lawful – way to close the gap.
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.
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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.
