Actuaries Institute and AIST disagree over the Intergenerational Report

The Actuaries Institute said that the Intergenerational Report (IGR) has “conclusively” demonstrated the need for policy change, while the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) said that “there is no need to panic”. The Actuaries Institute believes the IGR’s forecast change in demographics will put “significant pressure on health, pension and aged care costs”, but … Read more

REST loses second COO in 6 months

Jo Townsend is to become chief executive of Funds SA on April 20 leaving REST Super after seven years in a variety of roles, most recently as chief operating officer. Townsend started her career as a fixed income manager, before moving to REST as an investment manager, rising to become general manager of investments before … Read more

Large property deals edge AustralianSuper closer to new overseas bases

AustralianSuper is closer to realising its strategy of setting up an overseas office with the completion of two property deals worth $1.5 billion – 1.7 per cent of the fund. In its biggest ever direct property transaction it paid $1.1 billion for a 25 per cent stake in the Ala Moana Center, Honolulu – the … Read more

Unlisted managers turn into partners for large funds

A growing list of demands by large institutional investors when investing with unlisted asset managers is making them increasingly picky in their partners. Alignment of values, co-investments, joint-partnerships, strategy caps and fees that reduce with scale were all cited as essential by portfolio managers speaking at the Conexus Financial Private Assets Conference. Barry Brakey, head … Read more

First State Super catches up on infrastructure

First State Super is using its scale to directly invest in complex infrastructure deals that are out of the reach of other investors in a crowded market. Damian Webb, head of income and real assets at First State Super, told delegates at the Conexus Financial Private Assets conference in Melbourne how the fund has grown … Read more

Private equity market overheats

Private equity markets are overheated from cheap finance and the best deals are only coming from small niche investments, according to Siguler Guff. George Siguler, the founder of the private equity manager which has $10 billion in funds under management, cites Preqin research that shows managers worldwide have $3.8 trillion invested in the asset class, … Read more

Robo-advice can easily comply with FOFA

Super funds delivery of electronic financial advice to members has been “slow off the mark” because of regulatory worries, but compliance is simple, a legal expert said. Compliance with the future of financial advice (FOFA) can be easily achieved if the scope of the advice is limited, and funds are “in a unique position” to … Read more

ISA campaign against bank cross-selling overlooks regulation

Industry Super Australia (ISA) research has not sufficiently addressed exemption regulation in its claim that banks have been involved in systemic breaches of the Superannuation Industry Supervision (SIS) Act, a superannuation legal expert said. ISA has taken a broad brush stroke approach to section 68A of the Act summing it up as prohibiting the offering … Read more

Super funds to offer home loans and credit cards

Super funds will be offering home loans and credit cards to members by the end of 2015 and are already “well down the road” in developing these platforms, a market data research specialist said. Andrew Inwood, founder and principal of Coredata, said that he was having conversations with super funds about these products and how … Read more

Scenario analysis tool for climate change created

A scenario analysis tool that allows investors to model the impact of climate change on asset allocation is soon to be available from Mercer. The tool has been developed with economic and scientific research compiled by Mercer, economic consultants NERA and insurance consultancy Guy Carpenter, supported by the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group and … Read more

Growing pains: HESTA

HESTA’s 800,000 members are predominately women and members can experience a working history that sees them in both part and full time jobs. This means investment and advisory strategies are tailored to meet the goal of providing retirement outcomes for members who may have low account balances. While low account balances are the norm, the … Read more