AustralianSuper has made large savings on brokerage costs for futures contracts, in one of the latest ways its investment operations department is turning itself from a cost centre into a revenue generator. The move was prompted by members of its trading team who have been hired to join the in-house equities team at the fund. … Read more
Megan Pham, chief investment officer of AMIST Super, talks through the logic of her fund’s asset allocation and manager selection. Like a few other super funds in the region of $1-2 billion in assets under management, AMIST Super is sensitive to the accusation that it might not have the scale to outperform or do the … Read more
The threat of banks exploiting their business relationships with employers to cross-sell retail superannuation funds has been foiled by recommendations in the Financial System Inquiry (FSI), according to Industry Super Australia. David Whiteley, chief executive of the organisation representing industry funds, noted that several sections of the report will limit the ability of banks to … Read more
The Financial System Inquiry’s recommendation that APRA-regulated superannuation funds should have a majority of independent trustees has been branded “unenthusiastic” by Industry Super Australia. Notably the section of the report containing the recommendation, which also calls for all chairs to be independents and for an arm’s length definition of independence to apply, starts out with … Read more
Super funds should be required to pre-select a single retirement income product for members, the Financial System Inquiry has recommended, while acknowledging at the same time that no one retirement product will suit all. The recommendation has been made in recognition of the general level of difficulty members have in making decisions on managing their … Read more
The Financial System Inquiry has made seven recommendations in its final report to government with direct reference to superannuation. All of these plus one observation on taxation (which was outside the scope of its inquiry) are listed below. In reviewing the report yesterday, Pauline Vamos, chief executive of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia … Read more
HostPlus’s successful exploitation of the long investment horizon of its young member demographic has seen Sam Sicilia named as the FEAL/ La Trobe Financial chief investment officer of the year. The strategy has seen HostPlus achieve top quartile investment returns for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years to the end of June 2014. Speaking … Read more
Traditional anti-fraud measures can’t deal with systematic financial misconduct. Lawyer and superannuation executive David Galloway, writes in praise of the Dodd-Frank legislation. Confronted with systemic financial misconduct on an unprecedented scale during the GFC, US law makers paused to ask why it occurred and came to what seemed like startlingly obvious conclusions. Firstly, they reasoned … Read more
Australian asset owners and fund managers lead the world in ESG integration best practice, according to the Canadian based research and analysis firm Sustainalytics. The prominence of domestic mining companies in Australian equity portfolios has forced Australian investors to engage on climate change and the issue of stranded assets, rather than simply divesting. While he … Read more
Small superannuation funds should expect significantly higher custody costs in the next few years as custodians leave the market, a leading consultant has warned. Drew Vaughan, director of Dymond, Foulds and Vaughan, believes that eight players in the Australian market (NAB Asset Servicing, J.P. Morgan, BNP Paribas, State Street, Citigroup, Northern Trust, HSBC Bank, BNY … Read more
Financial services firms should be able to state their level of cyber security in line with international benchmarks, according to Greg Medcraft, chairman of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Medcraft, speaking at a forum at the Bloomberg offices in Sydney, said it was no longer acceptable for organisations to communicate their level of … Read more
China’s spectacular growth over the past decade has been one of the more successful emerging market stories of recent times. Yet, this growth in domestic wealth has so far had limited impact on the international equity markets, with cross-border investment flows remaining largely untapped due to strict capital controls. This may be about to change. … Read more
The investment intelligence behind Australia’s largest asset owners and their teams
In-depth interviews with leaders, experts and visionaries in the institutional investment community
Updates on the latest industry policy developments and regulation
The challenges and innovations of custody, technology and operational due diligence
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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