MUFG Pension & Market appoints tech consultant to enhance products
MUFG Pension & Market Services has enlisted a tech consultant to help expand its retirement service arm that provides super fund administration.
HESTA, IFM Investors acquires stake in EV subscription company
HESTA and super fund-owned investment vehicle IFM Investors has acquired a stake in subscription vehicles company Splend Group.
Financial advice reform a thorn in retirement’s side
Superannuation funds are being called upon to do more to assist the millions of Baby Boomers currently transitioning to retirement. But the task of developing retirement income strategies for members has been tripped up by the nation’s notoriously complex financial advice laws. And the project’s success now hinges on a reform agenda that remains far from certain.
Don’t wait to embrace a simple retirement for members
Some superannuation funds seem eager to hold back their delivery of better retirement outcomes to members until the financial advice reforms are bedded down, or members have more money, or the SG rate increases. But the tools are available now to provide a better solution to members. The key ingredient is keeping it simple.
The factors that make a great retirement offering
In order for a superannuation fund to deliver what would be considered a leading retirement offering, they must ensure sufficient attention to the three prongs of investments, product and guidance/advice. The different objectives between retirement and accumulation suggest different strategies may be required – not just a rehash of accumulation.
Vanguard Super names two trustee directors
Vanguard Super has appointed Jan Swinhoe and Teifi Whatley as independent directors on its trustee board, effective from 1 January 2025.
PE-owned trustees will face delicate balancing act
Insignia Financial boss Scott Hartley has got what every chief executive of a flagging business dreams of: a bidding war between two – and possibly more – private equity suitors for the business he’s in the process of reinvigorating. And, if a deal was to be done, how Insignia’s potential PE owner generates juicy profits out of its trustee arm will be a fascinating and instructive exercise to watch.
AustralianSuper makes first move in European logistics property
The $355 billion AustralianSuper has acquired a $1.4 billion European industrial and logistics portfolio, owned by OMERS real estate subsidiary Oxford Properties. The nation’s biggest fund is targeting a $7.5 billion valuation for the venture and $35 billion allocation in European and UK region before 2030, supported by its biggest international office in London with 121 employees.
Bain Capital matches CC Capital bid for Insignia
Bain Capital has made a revised offer to take over ASX-listed wealth giant, Insignia Financial, matching the offer from CC Capital last week.
Funds SA hones in on performance after investment function review
Since taking over the top job at the $44 billion Funds SA more than a year ago, chief executive John Piteo has ushered in an investment function overhaul and wrapped up an important stage of the fund’s five-year data transformation program. It pledges to recentre around investment performance and more efficient processes, as the “missing piece” has been found in incoming CIO Con Michalakis.
Bragg’s issue with Cbus trust deed misses the point
Almost every discussion about superannuation has become politically charged, even on esoteric issues such as historical trust deed amendments, over which Coalition Senator Andrew Bragg is accusing Cbus chair Wayne Swan of misleading the Senate.
CIOs on managing ‘mad, happy’ families and their own use-by date
The job of the chief investment officer has changed as super funds themselves have evolved in scope and scale. Today, the job is as much about managing a – sometimes global – asset management business as it is about managing investments. Staying focused on meeting the long-term objectives of fund members is an increasingly taxing task and, inevitably, all CIOs have a “use-by” date. For some, that day is closer than for others.
