Twenty Australian fund managers feature in Towers Watson’s listing of the top 100 alternative investment managers. In a list dominated by real estate and hedge fund managers, Towers Watson places Macquarie Group as the largest alternatives and the largest infrastructure manager in the world with US$96 billion under management (all figures are US dollar), followed … Read more
Mark O’Brien has been picked to head portfolio management for the amalgamated $60 billion New South Wales government funds. O’Brien, who is currently general manager of investments at State Super, will be joined in the management team by Steve McKenna, current chief investment officer for Work Cover, who will look after client interaction and solutions. … Read more
The survival of group insurance depends on funds, trustees, regulators and insurers working as a team, says Michael Dwyer, chief executive of First State Super, as none individually has the answer. The risk is that the youngest and healthiest members will exit insurance cover in response to large hikes in premiums, impacting further on the … Read more
There is a gulf between perception and reality of risk exposures by investment teams and committees, according to Roger McIntosh, head of investments at the Labour Union Co-operative Retirement Fund (LUCRF). Such lack of accurate insight into funds’ exposures has led him to introduce a risk assessment tool, MSCI’s Barra One, which is also being … Read more
Pragmatic, smart on costs and aware of his time coming to an end, Bob Henricks, the long serving chair of Energy Super talks to Investment Magazine. Australian superannuation funds have a reputation as some of the world’s toughest fee negotiators which must make Bob Henricks one of steeliest negotiators anywhere. He objects to the imposition … Read more
The nascent UK version of IFM Investors forsees a time when both will share ideas and co-invest, says Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, who is visiting Australia this week. After three years of planning, the Pension Infrastructure Partnership (PIP) invested its first funds in schools and hospital buildings earlier … Read more
The compulsory appointment of independent directors to superannuation fund boards is “inevitable within 18 months” believes Deloitte superannuation partner, Russell Mason, who sees it is an opportunity to address lack of diversity. Mason is urging funds to stop seeing the move as a threat, and instead to embrace it as an opportunity to build their … Read more
Susan Gosling and her team of five asset allocation specialists quantify risk in terms of how much their funds and end investors could lose if any one of 55 possible economic scenarios occurs. Funds are then stress tested under those scenarios and their asset allocation is modelled around it. It’s a point of differentiation as … Read more
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission is urging superannuation funds to draft their own set of fee transparency guidelines ahead of its own updated guidance issued today. The regulator is targeting non-disclosure relating to investment in underlying investment vehicles, incorrectly disclosing fees net of tax and inconsistent disclosure of performance fees. Such inconsistencies have left … Read more
Executives in financial services and superannuation funds are “chronically stressed” and internal teams are showing wear and tear according to Kamal Sarma, a consultant and personal coach. “We’re seeing people struggle to keep up with level of intensity required of them. A lot of people are overwhelmed by it,” said Sarma, who provides coaching seminars … Read more
The group insurance market in Australia is under the spotlight. We are seeing a period of rising claims and premiums, increased regulatory requirements and heightened solicitor involvement. Recent media reports have questioned the sustainability of the current group insurance market in Australia. The word sustainability is something that gets talked about a lot. In fact, … Read more
Scott Hartley has pledged lower fees for Sunsuper members in a bullish statement on the fund’s ability to become top choice for corporate clients. In his first public utterances since becoming chief executive, Hartley’s pledge is in stark contrast to most other funds, who have held out little prospect of fee cuts in the face … Read more
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In-depth interviews with leaders, experts and visionaries in the institutional investment community
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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.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land upon which Conexus Financial sits, the Cadigal of the Eora Nation. We recognise their continuing connection and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and community. We pay our deepest respects to them and their culture, and to Elders both past and present.
