Scott Hartley talks about new role as SunSuper CEO

The simple member-comes-first focus of running an industry fund will make a welcome change from managing retail superannuation funds, Scott Hartley has said in his first public interview as chief executive elect of Sunsuper. The former general manager of National Australia Bank’s corporate and institutional wealth team is moving from Sydney to Brisbane to take … Read more

Unisuper says buyer beware of star fund

Unisuper has issued a ‘buyer beware’ warning on the prospects of its high performing Global Environmental Opportunities fund. The fund has attracted the attention of members after it returned 45 per cent after tax to the end of September for a small group of members who now invest $85 million within it. It is entirely … Read more

Equity markets fair value at current prices

Two of Australia’s biggest institutional investors have called current equity markets fair value despite a year-long spike in prices. Both AustralianSuper and the Future Fund acknowledge the susceptibility of markets to bad news around high government debt in developed markets, but are not nervous about valuations. Innes McKeand head of equities at Australian Super, said: … Read more

Jeremy Cooper to review progress so far

The creators of the principals behind Stronger Super regulation are to publicly assess how far the industry and the regulator have progressed in enacting their vision. Both Jeremy Cooper and Paul Costello will be talking in Sydney and Melbourne at the Investment Management Consultants Association in Sydney on November 26 and in Melbourne on November … Read more

State Super mulls independents

State Super Financial Services will review the composition of its board in 2014 and consider adopting the Cooper Review’s recommendation of three employer, three employee and three independent trustees. The $13 billion advice firm and superannuation fund is owned by the $40 billion SAS Trustee Corporation. The SSFS board is chaired by former chief executive … Read more

Insurance compliance “devilishly tricky” – APRA

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has admitted some areas of compliance for insurance in superannuation are “devilishly tricky” for funds. The comments were made by Greg Brunner, general manager-supervisory support division at APRA at an Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees symposium in Melbourne. Brunner told an audience of trustees there were “significant” transition and implementation … Read more

AustralianSuper weathers fund manager hostility

Mark Delaney, chief investments officer of AustralianSuper has sought to calm fund manager hostility to his fund’s rolling plan to manage money internally. This follows a formal announcement by the fund that managing a proportion of equities, property and infrastructure in-house will eventually deliver savings of $150-million per year (or 15bps) on external fund manager … Read more

Returns of human value

Narrow is the road that Christian Super takes in the pursuit of returns. It negatively screens the ASX300, avoiding stocks that focus on alcohol or gambling, and going beyond the call of the average institutional investor’s duty by putting a lot of energy into investments that help make the world a better place. Around 8 … Read more

SSFS seeks referral deals for advice

State Super Financial Services, the advice business owned by SAS Trustee Corporation, will create formal referral arrangements with industry superannuation funds and other institutions to provide ongoing personal advice to more Australians. Peeyush Gupta, SSFS chair, said the group is actively seeking to partner with superannuation funds in a similar way to the recent deal … Read more

Sunsuper plans MySuper innovation

Sunsuper has pledged to create niche cohort strategies alongside its initial lifestyle MySuper product, which has gone live with 900,000 members and $16 billion of assets. Members most affected by the launch on October 4 are those aged over 55, who hold over 90,000 accounts which have begun the transition into less risky assets than … Read more

Government threat to funds downgraded

Reform of industry funds is low on the government’s agenda, according to Peter Collins, chair of Industry Super Australia, despite pre-election threats made by Mathias Cormann. Collins calmed the nerves of delegates at the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees’ governance symposium by speculating that the government had at least 50 more pressing issues to deal … Read more

Retail funds to compete on price not diversity

Liquidity constraints and a desire to compete on price is leading retail funds increasingly diverging from industry funds, according research firm Chant West. Warren Chant, director of Chant West, was speaking in advance of a presentation on the 81 MySuper products launched so far at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium in Victoria November 18 to 20. … Read more