Avoiding contortions over avoided emissions

Avoided emissions may be getting harder to avoid, and as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) conducts consultation on planned refinements to its guidance, it will no doubt be keeping a wary eye out for corporate contortionists keen to bolster their climate credentials.

Solving the complexity of retirement with the simplicity of advice

With hundreds of thousands of members retiring every year, super funds do not have the luxury of time to develop effective retirement income solutions. With the regulators already on their backs, solving the issue quickly will require a collaborative effort and smart ways of combining the scale and efficiency offered by funds with the personalised expertise of financial advisers. 

Offshore capital runs ruler over Aussie retail super giants

Ownership of the surviving wealth institutions may be set for another shake-up as big global investors circle Insignia Financial and Colonial First State. But it remains to be seen whether Wall Street buyers have paid sufficient attention to how these assets became stranded in the first place and if they could resist the temptation of vertical integration.

‘Looks pretty murky’: Senate grills service providers on Cbus claims delays

Life insurer TAL and super fund administrator MUFG Pension & Market Services (formerly Link) have been questioned by the Senate about their respective roles in delays to insurance claims lodged by Cbus members. TAL has disputed the characterisation of its relationship with Cbus as providing incentives for the fund to deny or delay claims, while MUFG declined to say whether it agreed with Cbus chair Wayne Swan’s assertion that the delays were its fault.

Crypto sceptics question AMP’s bitcoin bet

AMP Super has become the first Australian super fund, and one of the first global pension investors, to allocate money into cryptocurrency. It gained the exposure through an internal quant trading program of bitcoin futures in its DAA program. Sceptical observers say the level of interest in cryptocurrency from funds is “very correlated” with market highs, but the lack of economic fundamentals weakens the long-term investment case.

‘Working ourselves into redundancy’: 30 years of Women in Super

Women in Super celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024, and it’s come a long way from being a breakfast networking event to now being a 5000-member-strong organisation. Founded by the late industry super architect Mavis Robertson, the advocacy organisation has the ambitious goal of “working itself into redundancy”, but for now, chief executive Jo Kowalczyk says its work is unfinished.

AustralianSuper, NEST open up on challenges of growth and culture

The challenges faced by Australia’s largest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, have some strong parallels with the challenges faced by the UK’s largest defined-contribution fund, NEST. The Fiduciary Investors Symposium at the University of Oxford heard how each fund is leaning into its growth challenges from a cultural and investment perspective.

Navigating today’s global challenges to reimagine tomorrow’s markets

Published in Partnership with MFS Investment Management. Simultaneous global challenges such as inequality, environmental degradation, financial instability and fragile supply chains are challenging contemporary capitalism’s ability to cope. MFS Investment Management president Carol Geremia says it is time to consider a new approach to build resilience and ensure long-term sustainability in markets and societies. The … Read more