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
The $46-billion industry-superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, has started the search for a senior portfolio manager to head a new internal equity-management team. This is the first step of a process that will see as much as 30 per cent of the fund’s assets managed in-house within five years. AustralianSuper’s head of investment operations, Peter Curtis, says … Read more
Using a fund of funds enabled the Future Fund to build a large exposure to hedge funds quickly during the global financial crisis, chief investment officer of the Future Fund, David Neal told delegates at the Conexus Financial Alternatives Conference last Thursday. The Future Fund, which uses a combination of fund of funds and direct … Read more
Portfolios should maintain their current level of exposure to equities, according to 52 per cent of delegates at the Australian Superannuation Investment Conference. They were voting before a session on the “equities conundrum,” at which speakers from a super fund, fund manager and consultancy presented their views on the outlook for equities, and their place … Read more
Australian supernnuation-fund boards suffer from “similarity selection bias” in selecting trustees and by doing so limit their opportunities to act, according to human-capital partner at Deloitte, Juliet Bourke. Bourke, who leads the national diversity and inclusion practice at Deloitte, says people are attracted to other people who are fundamentally the same as themselves. “We need … 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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