A compulsory best practice code of conduct for not-for-profit funds will be developed by April 30, 2016, following a review of governance by the former RBA Governor and Treasury Secretary. The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) and Industry Super Australia (ISA) agreed to undertake a comprehensive review of not-for-profit fund governance as part of … Read more
The newly merged $3.3 billion Tasplan has increased its commitment to invest in Tasmania, and sees potential to build the allocation up to 5 per cent of the fund. Tasplan’s Tasmanian Growth and Development Fund – a joint venture with Nekon, a local property developer and investor – is expected to invest in areas such … Read more
Global listed infrastructure should not be classified as a separate asset class owing to the similarity of risk adjusted returns to global utility stocks, claims a leading academic. A presentation at the CSIRO-Monash Superannuation Research Cluster annual conference in Melbourne, given by associate professor Robert Bianchi of Griffith University, said the case was true for … Read more
The practice of benchmarking the salaries of senior executives of institutional funds with reference to external financial services firms, instead of the shared objectives of the fund, is a major barrier to their success, according to Professor Gordon Clark of Oxford University and director of Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. Clark sees the … Read more
The first public airing of the government’s proposed objective for superannuation has highlighted a divergence with proposals from both the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST). Addressing the superannuation industry at the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia annual conference, the Federal Treasurer, Scott Morrison said the government’s preferred … Read more
NGS Super and QIEC Super are discussing integrating into a master trust, as they believe it will offer greater economies of scale and benefits to their members. This is the first time two industry funds have agreed to investigate this form of integration. Currently all industry super funds follow a wrap model, while retail funds … Read more
Investors are increasingly focusing on corporate engagement and the role it can play in their ESG process, according to Kirsten Temple, head of SRI and ESG at JANA Investment Advisers. Does engagement lead to meaningful change in corporate behaviour and business direction, and, importantly, does this result in better risk/return outcomes for the investor? Determining cause … Read more
Excess investor demand for infrastructure assets will ease in the medium term as countries are forced to adapt to rising populations, more extreme weather, resource scarcity and digital disruption, believes QIC. And investors will play an increasingly proactive role in this pipeline of projects, often providing governments with ideas on how and what to build. … Read more
Ian Silk’s call for the superannuation industry to raise its game and take on the “grand ambition” of giving all Australians an adequate income in retirement has been endorsed by a cross-section of leading figures. The chief executive of AustralianSuper was speaking at the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) annual conference in Brisbane, … Read more
BT Financial is testing ambitious robo-advice software that will assess areas of inefficiency across an individual’s superannuation, insurance, investments, mortgages and banking. The Wealth Review will be offered free to all customers and will be sent out in targeted campaigns to specific age groups in the coming months. The program works by requesting information from … Read more
When Fiona Trafford-Walker, director of consulting at Frontier Advisors, told the AIST ASI conference in September that after years of talking about the possibility of lower fund management fees, funds were starting to make major breakthroughs, there was little fund manager feedback on the speech. Here Franklin Templeton, Schroders, and Vanguard all give their feedback. … Read more
Jim Christensen is leaving Telstra Super to return to the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) in Brisbane. Christensen, who was nominated the chief investment officer of the year in the Conexus Financial Superannuation Awards in May, has commuted between Melbourne and Brisbane during his time at Telstra Super and has sought a role in Brisbane to … Read more
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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.
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