Profile: Anne Whittaker, CIO

Anne Whittaker joined the Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund (CSRF) as chief investment officer in the momentous month of October 2008, just as the global financial crisis (GFC) was hitting full swing. “Everything went down and you couldn’t hide anywhere,” she recalls. The GFC ended up producing two years of negative returns for CSRF … Read more

New Vision Super CIO to target investment costs

Michael Wyrsch has been tasked with reducing Vision Super’s investment costs as part of his new role as chief investment officer of the $7 billion fund. Wyrsch, who will start at the Victorian local government fund on June 2, is currently a senior investment consultant at Frontier Advisors, a role he has held for 16 years. … Read more

NGS rebrand – ‘for those who understand the true meaning of wealth’

A week after trustees of industry funds were warned that without a brand strategy they would not survive the ‘medium term’, NGS Super has unveiled a new detailed brand, motto and manifesto. Tom Garcia, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees gave the stark warning to delegates in his opening address to CMSF, … Read more

Retirement income did not fall for most in GFC: QSuper

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) never happened in income terms. That’s the new finding from QSuper that’s causing it to rethink the way it communicates to members. Brad Holzberger chief investment officer at QSuper, has described the find as “astonishing”. “If we’d known this, we would’ve communicated it very differently to members at the time,” … Read more

Sunsuper confronts lack of board diversity

Sunsuper has improved the gender and geographical diversity of its board with the appointment of the Sydney based Elizabeth Hallett as an employer representative. Hallet has been a partner with international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright for 22 years practising in corporate advisory, private equity, and mergers and acquisitions, she also has board experience most … Read more

QSuper’s cohort strategies pose challenge to US and UK schemes

QSuper’s creation of eight different investment cohorts for its members has sparked curiosity and admiration from defined contribution experts in the US and UK. The Queensland public sector fund is to segment 440,000 default members into eight groups according to age and account balance in May. The investment strategies for each group will be focussed … Read more

Jana clients gain access to greater range of research

Jana will research a greater range of investment strategies for its clients following its merger with MLC Investment Management. Ian Patrick, whose job title changes from chief executive to co-head of Jana, said the increased capability would meet the needs of clients who were seeking increasingly idiosyncratic approaches to traditional asset classes. He listed long-short … Read more

IMCA Australia launches CIMA Scholarship Program

The Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) is offering a range of scholarships for its Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) Program. The professional development course is aimed improving both the practical and theoretical investment knowledge of individuals, as well as their industry contacts. It is the only program offered in Australia that is designed for investment … Read more

Regaining control: why investors must stand up to banks

As the chief executive of a financial services media and events business, Colin Tate benefits from the growth in the banking sector. But at the same time he is perplexed by the bad corporate behaviour, large pay packets, and secret negotiations of international banks. It’s time, he says, for institutional investors to demand change. I’m … Read more

Balancing social good and maximising returns

Garry Weaven makes the case that not enough has been done in pushing the boundaries on the conflict between maximising returns for members and acheiving a social good If neo-classical economics in its purest version were to be taken seriously, there would be no need to debate the issue of whether socially motivated investment was … Read more

Profile: Frank Gullone, chair of Kinetic Super

Frank Gullone explains the reinvention of Professional Associations Super as Kinetic Super, and its omnipresent online brand awareness campaign. The promotion of Kinetic Super as the new name for Professional Associations Super – along with its distinctive light blue, light red and white branding – has been hard to ignore over the past nine months. … Read more