Regulators report on OTC derivatives

Australia’s central bank and other major financial regulators have recommended tightening regulation of the domestic over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Reserve Bank of Australia this week jointly released the Report on the Australian OTC Derivatives Market based on a survey of market participants. Specifically, … Read more

BNP beefs up insto, Citi adds to equities

BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) has announced the appointment of John Jardim to the role of senior business development manager. Jardim will be based in BNPP IP’s Melbourne office, focusing on relationships with superannuation funds, as well as government and financial institutions. His appointment follows the recent hires of Angus Carson as head of … Read more

Strategy rules at Cbus

“The strategy governs the fund completely,” says Steve Bracks, chairman of the Cbus board. “It determines the budget and sets priorities.” Those priorities include positioning the fund to be the “complete” fund that covers the entire building and construction industry, including the 45 per cent it currently doesn’t represent in whitecollar professions such as architecture. “We … Read more

Long-term investing strategies in private wealth management

Asset-liability management (ALM) denotes the adaptation of the portfolio-management process in order to handle the presence of various constraints relating to the commitments that represent the liabilities of an investor. Academic research has suggested that suitable extensions of portfolio-optimisation techniques used by institutional investors (for example, pension funds) could be usefully transposed to the context of private wealth management precisely because they have … Read more

ETP allocations set to rise

Institutional investors across the Asia-Pacific region are set to increase their allocations to exchange traded products (ETPs), according to a survey commissioned by State Street Global Advisors. Conducted in August this year by Greenwich Associates, the survey found that 40 per cent of those surveyed planned to lift their ETP allocations in coming years, with … Read more

Capital launches fund for retail and instos

Capital International, part of the Capital Group is beefing up its presence in Australia with the opening of a representative office late last year and the launch of its Emerging Markets Total Opportunities Fund for both institutional and retail investors. Paul Hennessy, a former Macquarie banker who was appointed Capital’s Australian head last year, says … Read more

Castlereagh is king of the dance floor

Having been blessed with more than a passable sense of rhythm, it was no surprise that I completely blitzed the field in the Elvis competition at the SuperRatings 10th anniversary awards in Melbourne last Thursday. A group of 50-somethings in penguin suits were plucked randomly from the crowd, myself among them, and we were commanded … Read more

Zenith reviews Perennial property funds

Changes to Perennial Investments’ real-estate investment team have prompted managed-funds research firm Zenith Investment Partners to place Perennial’s Australian and global property funds under review. An “under review” flag means the research firm needs further details of the substance of the changes and the likely effect they will have on the manager’s investment process, and … Read more

New RM at BNP Paribas, manager at Threadneedle

BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP Paribas) today announced the appointment of Katharine Seymour as the new head of relationship management for its Australian ‘asset owner’ clients. Seymour assumes responsibility for the team managing relationships and service delivery for BNP Paribas’ clients in this core client group that includes superannuation funds, government entities and insurance companies. … Read more

New BT series takes aim at retirees

BT Investment Management has launched a new series of equity-income products which the firm’s chief executive, Emilio Gonzalez, believes will compete with term deposits and hybrid issues for inflows among retirees and those approaching retirement. The BT Equity Income series comprises two open-ended Australian equity funds, which target returns of 8.5 per cent or 10 … Read more

William Blair touches down in Oz

Chicago-based William Blair Investment Manager is the latest global asset manager to announce it will set up operations in Australia. William Blair, which manages around US$47 billion across equities, hedge funds and fixed income, has announced the appointment of two-decade industry veteran Alex Francois to head its Australian and New Zealand distribution, which is squarely … Read more

Frontier and AvSuper lose one each, REST lends one

Frontier Investment Consulting’s deputy director of consulting, Kristian Fok, is leaving to join Cbus Super as executive manager of investment strategy. Fok, who has been with Frontier for 14 years, will join Cbus in December in a role he describes as a “great new challenge.” “I worked with Cbus last year as they went through … Read more