The hunt for alpha among global investors is creating opportunities for boutique investment managers, but there is still a “tug of war” between capturing returns and avoiding risk, according to a 2012 State Street survey of more than 160 asset managers. The State Street Vision Paper, released this week, says that institutional investors are not … Read more
Australian hedge funds and boutique investment firms control $208.4-billion-worth of assets, or around 17 percent of the total of $1.19 trillion managed by the entire Australian investment management industry. These are the findings of an inaugural survey by Triple A Partners and Basis Point Consulting, launched this week as the Australian Hedge and Boutique Fund … Read more
Martin Crowe, chief executive at Telstra Super, said the decision to remain with NAB had been made after an extensive review of the fund’s custodial needs. “They know us and our members well,” said Crowe, whose fund has 100,000 members. Christina Liosis, Telstra Super’s chief financial officer, citied the strength of the NAB balance sheet … Read more
Overall fees for the superannuation industry as a percentage of assets averaged 1.20 per cent for the 2011 financial year, a fall from 1.27 per cent for 2010. The information is contained in a Rice Warner report on superannuation commissioned earlier this year by the Financial Services Council. While the report was delivered to the … Read more
I was recently at an industry conference where changes to the default-fund system were discussed. Throughout the session, we heard about the impact on employers, insurers, funds and other providers but members – and what was best for them – didn’t rate a mention. In her recently published book, A Super History, Christine St Anne reminds us that super was conceived as policy with social … Read more
The Industry Super Network (ISN) has called for a moratorium on high frequency trading (HFT) in Australian markets because of the potential negative impact on long-term investors. Zachary May, ISN director of regulatory policy, says HFT is on the rise in Australia and already accounts for the majority of trading in the United States. The … Read more
The Industry Super Network (ISN) and the Financial Services Council (FSC) are at loggerheads over FSC draft governance guidelines on the definition of independent directors on super funds operated by banks and insurers. ISN chief executive David Whiteley has told I&T news in a telephone interview that the FSC regulations, which he claims would allow … Read more
Tighter capital adequacy and liquidity levels under the incoming Basel III banking regulations will create a void in long-term project finance that could be filled by institutions such as super funds, according to a JP Morgan executive. Robert Bedwell, head of institutional-investor relationship management for JP Morgan, told a recent Sydney briefing that Basel III … Read more
Despite the intense focus on emerging markets, the sector was “still undercapitalised” as a result of short-term profit taking by global institutions, according to Investec Bank global strategist Dr Michael Power. Speaking at the Australian Superannuation Investment Conference (ASI) on the Gold Coast last week, Power said that emerging markets’ share of global market capitalisation … Read more
“Economic Armageddon” would be unleashed across the world by a combination of a “eurozone meltdown and a hard landing in China” but both of these scenarios were increasingly unlikely, the Australian Superannuation Investment Conference has been told. Michael Hasenstab, a senior vice president and co-director of international bonds at Franklin Templeton Investments, said that while … Read more
For Susheela Peres da Costa, head of environmental, social and governance (ESG) services at governance and research consultancy Regnan, this is a double-edged sword, with a greater access to information often meaning greater access to a message that has been carefully managed. “One of the things that worries me, recently, about the proliferation of different … Read more
Corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has emphasised the importance of risk management in the funds-management industry after a “proactive review” found that the “sophistication of risk-management systems varied greatly.” “While they generally had adequate risk-management systems adapted to the nature, scale and complexity of their financial services businesses, we observed that … 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.
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