Wolf of Wall Street litigator to visit Melbourne and Sydney

One of the world’s leading financial services litigation lawyers is to make a keynote address at the IMCA annual conference in Sydney (on December 3) and Melbourne (December 4). Joel Cohen, a former federal prosecutor in New York, well-known for his role in prosecuting Jordan Belfort “The Wolf of Wall Street”, will be speaking at … Read more

Superpartners: The journey to Rhodes

“You really should visit our offices in Rhodes”. In a sector renowned for thinning profit margins and risky, expensive product development, the ebullience of Link Group has stood out. So it is little surprise the chief executives of AustralianSuper, Cbus, HESTA, HOSTPLUS, MTAA Super have taken the taxi ride to Rhodes in Western Sydney and … Read more

Three funds move into social impact investment space

The $31 billion QBE investment portfolio is to place $100m in social impact bonds in the belief that opportunities for such investments will expand greatly in the years to come. It is part of a general move to diversify assets in the QBE portfolio, which until now has been dominated by developed world government and … Read more

ACSI: Australian companies, probably the best governed in the world

The standard of governance among listed Australian companies leads the world, states the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors’ (ACSI), after it unveiled progress on checking excessive pay. ACSI’s annual survey on chief executive pay shows median termination payments at Australia’s largest listed companies have shrunk from $3.5 million in 2008 to $1.3 million in 2013. … Read more

Sunsuper seeks more smart partnerships with fund managers

Sunsuper is to expand on its success in partnering with distressed debt and private equity managers by seeking partnerships with listed equity managers too. The $30 billion fund has gained large returns from offering quick and often short-term finance to fund managers it has built up long-term relationships with in the private capital space and … Read more

AIST viewpoint: Aboriginal access to super

Remote indigenous Australians are having a poor experience in getting their superannuation entitlements. Tom Garcia, chief executive of the Australian Institute Of Superannuation Trustees, calls on superannuation funds to make a difference. There was plenty of discussion around the opening up of China’s equity markets, finding value in emerging markets and whether another “Lehman” moment … Read more

Investors demystify hedge funds

Institutional investors are shrewder purchasers of absolute return managers as their ability to identify risk-premia to match their portfolios improves. This was a common theme to conversations at the 8th annual Conexus Financial Absolute Returns conference in Sydney, at which representatives of the US and European based hedge fund managers Elementum Advisors, 36 South, GAM, … Read more

The last true source of diversification

Stock options are the last source of true diversification, investors were told at the Absolute Returns Conference in Sydney. In a presentation that received close scrutiny and engagement from delegates, Anthony Limbrick, portfolio manager for 36 South, told how growing consensus on diversification was having diminishing returns, in part due to the growing popularity of … Read more

Future Fund’s explains strategic use of FOHFs

The Future Fund is using hedge fund of funds as alternative solution providers rather than as an access vehicle, delegates heard at the Absolute Returns Conference in Sydney. David George, head of debt and alternatives at the Future Fund, revealed how in some instances he was using fund of funds to help with risk systems … Read more

HESTA to cut investments in thermal coal

HESTA, the super fund for health and community services, is to progressively implement a restriction on investments in thermal coal. It will not make new investments in unlisted companies that derive more than 15 per cent of revenue or net asset value from exploration, new or expanded production, or transportation of thermal coal. In addition, … Read more

Is our industry authentic about serving all members?

Many thought Alice Springs was an odd choice for last week’s AIST ASI conference. Perhaps the rationale was not explained well, but CEO Tom Garcia felt rather than another junket, it was better the industry understood the plight of our country’s first people and to leave a decent wad of cash behind in one of … Read more