New entrant Denmark is the star performer in this year’s Mercer Global Pension Index, with the Scandanvian nation’s pension system ranking first out of the 18 countries surveyed. Australia increased its index score from 75 to 75.7 this year, but was ranked third behind Denmark (82.9) and the Netherlands (78.8). The average score of the … Read more
In an interview with www.top1000funds.com, John Kay, economist and author of the UK government-commissioned enquiry into long termism and the UK equity markets, has said it is “fanciful to imagine large number of trustees will have the skills and knowledge to have long-term relationships with corporates”. Kay says the key players in the UK equity … Read more
Westpac Institutional Bank has announced that Terry Winder has been confirmed as chief financial officer following an extensive global search. The appointment will see Winder join the institutional bank’s executive team and report to group executive, Rob Whitfield. Winder, who has over 25 years’ experience in financial markets, joined Westpac in 2010 and has been … Read more
The looming US fiscal cliff was no Thelma-and-Louise moment for the world economy, according to a leading global fund manager visiting Australia. John Vail, head of global strategy at Nikko AM – the parent firm for fund manager Tyndall – is in Australia to spread his message to clients that while there are “growth headwinds,” … Read more
I&T News has a new columnist, one of Sydney’s biggest investors and wheeler-dealers, who goes by the nom de plum, Castlereagh. He had a busy week, being feted by the hordes of international fund managers who are making their way to Australia in search of investors. Isn’t international tourism struggling because of the high value … Read more
Fund manager Fidelity will bring its Global Demographic Fund to Australia, with plans to launch it in the local market in December. Fidelity’s London-based fund manager, Nicky Stafford, addressed a lunch for Sydney investors yesterday and outlined the fund’s investment strategy in 50 to 80 global stocks out of an investment universe of 1000 stocks, … Read more
Swiss-based funds manager Vontobel Asset Management has exceeded $1 billion in Australian assets under management, driven by local institutions’ increasing need for diversification strategies. Vontobel offers one of its six boutiques, the actively managed Quality Growth Fund, to Australian investors. The fund currently has just under $29 billion under management across all countries, with investments … Read more
United States fund manager MFS Investments has unwound its decade-long partnership with BNP Paribas in Australia and is going it alone in the local market. President and chief investment officer of MFS, Michael Roberge, was in Australia last week to meet with local clients, for whom the company manages just over US$14 billion. “The BNP link … Read more
There’s no question that the industry-fund sector has been leaking members to the self-managed world for some time, but now the industry funds are increasingly striking back. One of the key reasons people have been drifting to the self-managed superannuation fund sector over the last few years has been a need for control. It has been … Read more
The Australian exchange-traded fund industry continues to grow, with assets under management reaching a high of $5.7 billion at the end of September, according to BetaShares ETF Review. The growth represented a 3.9-per-cent increase over the course of September, attributable rather to a rise in underlying asset prices rather than fund inflows. The most popular products … Read more
Regular readers of this column would be well aware of the ongoing debate about the governance of superannuation. However, amid all the claims and counter claims about the merits of the various governance models that exist in our industry and the hysteria about unions “controlling” superannuation, some of the really important issues around board independence … Read more
The New South Wales government is attempting to ramp up interest in its stalled Waratah Annuity Bond by announcing an exclusive distribution deal with Colonial First State’s FirstWrap investment platform. The move comes after the first instalments of the bonds, aimed at “Mum and Dad” retail investors, failed to find traction in the market and … Read more
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