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

AIST CMSF 2014 – coverage

AIST’s flagship event, the Conference of Major Super Funds (CMSF) is the premier idea-sharing and networking event for Australia’s $600 billion not-for-profit superannuation sector, attracting over 1100 delegates including trustees, CEO’s, senior executives and fund staff. Day three newsletter – March 26, 2014 (PDF) Day two newsletter – March 25, 2014 (PDF) Day one newsletter … Read more

Super funds consider real asset cut-backs over pricing concerns

An abundance of liquidity is driving the price of infrastructure and core property to levels where super funds are exploring tactical sell-offs. Some clients of Frontier Advisors are contemplating such moves after receiving research that global investors with lower return targets are prepared to pay more for these assets. The research carried out by Ashley … Read more

Murky sovereign bond valuations made clearer through ESG

Australian investors are looking to environmental, social and governance (ESG) screenings of sovereign bonds as a better means of understanding an asset class distorted by quantitative easing. Investors such as HOSTPLUS and Vicsuper have already gone on record to state their desire to either cut back on the asset class or to seek alternative indices, … Read more

At the helm – a profile of Tasplan chair Naomi Edwards

Size isn’t everything when it comes to delivering the best service to members, believes Naomi Edwards, chair of the $2.1 billion Tasplan fund. “We don’t accept that the sweet spot for super funds is over $10 billion,” she says. “We think that you can run super funds well for less than that if you’ve got … Read more