New head of equities at Mason Stevens

Independent investment management firm Mason Stevens has announced the appointment of Jack Chemello as head of equities. Chemello joins the firm from BT where he held a range of senior positions including portfolio manager of the BT Imputation Fund. In the new role, Chemello will oversee all aspects of developing Mason Steven’s equities business,and will … Read more

Instos hungry for listed infrastructure

Institutional investors had shown strong interest in listed infrastructure over the last 18 months as competition for unlisted infrastructure has hotted up, according to Peter Meany from Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM). Meany is CFSGAM’s head of global listed infrastructure, and told a media briefing this week that his flagship fund had seen … Read more

Insourcing an opportunity, says Neuberger Berman

Insourcing of investment teams by Australian superannuation funds is an “opportunity, not a closed door” for US fund manager Neuberger Berman. George H Walker, the chairman and chief executive officer of New York-based Neuberger Berman, is in Australia this week to meet with clients and told I&T News his firm was working with several Australian … Read more

Sunsuper charity event breaks own record

Sunsuper chief executive Tony Lally can be forgiven for being a little saddle sore this week. Lally, a cycling Olympian for Ireland at the 1980 Olympics, rode 200km on the weekend as Sunsuper sponsored a record-breaking charity ride to raise funds for the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse project at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. A total … Read more

AIST survey reveals how trustee members see future

“What keeps you up at night” might be an expression which is overdone in some industries with little change, but you could never say that  – right now anyway – about Australian superannuation. For all our success in creating, inside two decades, the world’s fourth largest fund management industry – around one third of it … Read more

Funds need a benchmark

Cbus is to be applauded for showing the way in transparency, with its latest annual report disclosing more information about the fund’s investments, director and executive remuneration than ever before. It’s clearly a leader and should be recognised for this; it takes courage to jump ahead of the pack when there is no compulsion to … Read more

Denmark gold, Australia bronze in Mercer index

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

Kay calls for philosophical shift

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

Winder reports to Whitfield at Westpac

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

US fiscal cliff no Thelma-and-Louise moment

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

Bees to the honey pot

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

Fidelity to launch demographics fund

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