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

Target date funds; the start of a big adventure

This article contains the views of AMP, Mercer, ASIC, Frontier Advisors and Michael Drew professor of finance at Griffith Business School on the subject of target date funds. Three to four million Australians are about to embark on a very exciting experiment. They are to choose a date when they envisage finishing work and then … Read more

Tasmania super merger edges closer

The first stage in the potential merger of all three prominent Tasmanian based superannuation funds drew a step closer after Quadrant and Tasplan agreed merger talks. The two funds are to enter into a Heads of Agreement to investigate whether a merger would create an improved provision of superannuation services to the members and employers … Read more

State Super to gain admin savings of $65bn fund

State Super is to gain the economies of scale of sharing a common administration platform, due diligence, manager appointments and reporting with TCorp and the Safety, Return to Work and Support Division. The NSW treasurer and the minister for finance and services have announced the merger of activities to gain greater cost efficiencies for each … Read more

CBUS members welcome income projections

CBUS has gained a 97 per cent approval rate from members for statements which confront them with an estimate of their income in retirement in today’s dollar value. The building industry fund conducted the exercise with 20,000 members to raise awareness that taking the lump sum was not the only option on retiring. Since the … Read more