Trustees do not need to have the investment judgement of the consultants they employ, but they must be able to demonstrate an understanding of the advice they receive, a senior manager at the Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority (APRA) has said. In a presentation to delegates at the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees’ Australian Superannuation … Read more
Cbus is to divest holdings in companies that manufacture tobacco products after its board decided it was in the interest of members and their long-term investment returns. The decision was made on the basis that there is no safe level of use of tobacco products and that the current targeting by tobacco companies of young … Read more
Australia’s first Islamic principle-compliant superannuation fund has gained 30 to 50 members a week from industry and retail funds in its first few months of operation. Crescent Wealth has focused its marketing on Muslims under the age of 40, with adverts on Facebook and Google with the messages “Is your super Halal? Ours is” and … Read more
Most smart-beta offerings fall into the same trap as index strategies: blindly following a set of criteria even when the strategy is underperforming. Instead, beta harvesters should be more thoughtful, according to Tim Gardener, head of institutional client strategy at AXA Investment Managers, who also believes smart-beta strategies are overpriced. “In beta strategies, market cap … Read more
There is no empirical evidence that forcing independents on to boards of directors will improve the level of decision-making, a leading academic has told the superannuation industry. The point was made by Sally Wheeler, a professor of law at Queen’s University in Belfast, at briefings held by the Australian Super Funds Association (ASFA) in Sydney … Read more
A $9-million grant to academics to discover ways of improving the superannuation system will help put Australia in a position to sell its know-how to the rest of the world. This call by Simon McKeon, former Australian of the year and chair of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), was made as he … Read more
Star stock picker Kerr Neilson isn’t afraid to admit when he’s wrong. Three years ago, he refused to believe that women would never want to buy their clothes and shoes online, only to watch internet-based retailers for women become the most popular websites in the world, facilitating enormous sales volumes daily. “Three-to-five years ago, I … Read more
Former politicians commonly go on to become company directors or ambassadors for charities when they retire, but few would expect a one-time Liberal member of parliament to pop up on the board of an industry superannuation fund. The 2006 appointment of former New South Wales Liberal party leader, Peter Collins, as an independent director of … Read more
Cuts to red tape and greater market freedoms in superannuation have been promised by Senator Matthias Cormann if the Liberal Party wins the election. These will open up the system of default funds for industry sectors and will also face the imposition of independent trustees. He has also reiterated his party’s promise that there will … Read more
The Liberal and Labor parties have both resisted pressure to pass on Australian infrastructure projects direct to superannuation funds. At a Financial Services Council meeting in Sydney last Friday, Treasurer Chris Bowen was asked by a superannuation representative if he would facilitate such investment. He was emphatic in his response: “I have never supported mandating … Read more
The trend towards greater active foreign-currency management is to collide with a hike in compliance costs, delegates of the National Australia Bank Superannuation FX Conference heard. Half of all funds now take currency hedging decisions at a total portfolio level, up from 8 per cent in 2003, and are increasingly using tailored strategies, rather than … Read more
Two emerging markets specialists have explained why developed market equities are outperforming countries such as China. Anne Richards, global chief investment officer at Aberdeen Asset Management, said economic growth was not a proxy for equity market performance, with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index severely underperforming the MSCI World Index in the last 12 months despite … Read more
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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.
