Lifecycle proponent Scott Tully, Colonial First State’s CIO

Scott Tully, chief investment officer of Colonial First State, explains the logic of his default fund’s lifecycle approach to Investment Magazine. Two years ago, Colonial First State introduced the lifecycle portfolio in response to MySuper requiring super funds to offer a single default option for all members. Scott Tully, chief investment officer at Colonial First State, defines … Read more

Delaney’s insights into diversification

The chief investment officer of AustralianSuper gave delegates at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium an insight into how he diversifies his fund’s portfolio, Mark Delaney’s advice came with the caveat that no process of diversification could ever be perfected. “You cannot solve for uncertainty by adding more precision, it is elusive,” he told delegates. “You need … Read more

Benchmarking urged for internal teams

Funds managing assets in-house should report to their members on how these assets have performed versus properly constructed market based benchmarks, according to an advisor at PwC. David St. John, urged an audience of 37 institutional investors to raise their standards of reporting voluntarily, but said that if this did not happen then regulatory intervention … Read more

Triggers for Chinese growth transformed

Investors’ perceptions of China are not keeping up with the facts, according to leading economist and a keen observer of the world’s second largest economy. Olga Bitel, the Chicago-based economist at William Blair, contests the accuracy of widespread gloomier economic forecasts for China, particularly in light of bad loans and the decline in purchases of … Read more

New proposal for defining a defensive asset

Defensive assets should be determined on an individual asset basis, rather than on an asset class level, delegates heard at the Conexus Financial Fiduciary Investors Symposium. Paul Caskey, chief investment officer of the South Australian work injury insurance scheme ReturnToWorkSA, presented a new formula for helping to determine which funds could be included in the … Read more

Outflow of capital as superannuation heads to 200% of GDP

With the superannuation system projected to reach 200 per cent of GDP in the next 20 years capital will increasingly flow out of the country as super funds seek investment opportunities overseas, according to Deloitte. From a macroeconomic perspective this will compound the problems brought about by an ageing population, particularly as the old-age support … Read more

QSuper’s data supports ASFA’s retirement estimations

Analysis of QSuper’s membership data has provided evidence that the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s (ASFA) benchmark of how much money people need for a comfortable retirement is not unreasonable. According to Dr Helen Johnson, data scientist at QSuper, the actual amounts people draw in retirement from account-based pensions are around the ASFA comfortable … Read more

PRI to consider new principle focusing on systemic risks

The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is considering a seventh principle that will focus on broad financial system systemic risks. The six principles were written before the global financial crisis and are focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration. Now, a decade after their creation, consideration of systemic risks is on the agenda and … Read more

Stephen Dunne to become chair of Cbus’ investment committee

Stephen Dunne, the former chief executive of AMP Capital, is to become chair of the investment committee for the $31 billion construction workers industry fund Cbus. Dunne, who oversaw the development of AMP Capital to become a $156 billion funds management operation, will bring the expertise and know-how to help nurture the increasingly ambitious ideas … Read more

Room at the top: the Future Fund

With its 10th birthday approaching, the Future Fund is entering its next incarnation complete with a new investment team structure. Investment Magazine spoke to Raphael Arndt, Stephen Gilmore and David Neal.  When David Neal, the inaugural chief investment officer of the Future Fund, became its managing director on August 4 last year, his previous role was split … Read more