ASX, the owner and operator of the Australian stock market, expects 100 exchange traded funds (ETFs) by June 2013. “I’d be surprised if we weren’t at 100 by this time next year,” says Richard Murphy, general manager of capital markets at ASX. “There is not one big Australian fund manager not looking at ETFs.” Still, … Read more
Access Capital Advisers, the US$3.2-billion infrastructure investor, has bought a 70-per-cent stake in LBC Terminals Jersey from Australia’s Challenger Infrastructure Fund and Challenger Life. Canberra-based Access Capital will own about 2.7 million cubic meters of tank storage facilities for bulk liquid-chemical products that have an enterprise value of US$1 billion. The 11 terminals are located … Read more
Last month Andrew Day, chief executive of Hastings Funds Management, brought most of his 100 colleagues, who work as far afield as London and San Antonio, Texas, to Melbourne to think about the infrastructure investor’s goals. For two days Hastings staff discussed how to transform the $6.5-billion fund manager into a more international company. “As … Read more
In the Sydney offices of Zeptonics near Circular Quay, books by the Dalai Lama sit alongside those by Isaac Asimov. Like the famed science-fiction writer, Zeptonics’s staff is dreaming of new technology that will revolutionise trading on Wall Street, hoping it is seamlessly adopted by asset managers, brokers and high-frequency traders. Today Zeptonics unveils its … Read more
Omega Global Investors, a fixed-income asset manager, has won a $170-million mandate from Local Government Super to invest in sustainable assets. The $6-billion superannuation fund and Melbourne-based Omega have developed a strategy over nine months to make bond investments along environmental, social and governance lines that seek to reinforce the United Nations-backed Principals for Responsible … Read more
Bennelong Funds Management, the boutique fund-management group, has hired Jeff Phillips as its chief financial officer. At Melbourne-based Bennelong, Phillips will head a finance team that has recently expanded. Hamish Wood, formerly a finance manager at GLG Partners in London, is now group-finance manager. Nicole Hammond is the senior fund accountant. She worked at consultants … Read more
Superannuation funds are under pressure as investor behaviour changes, particularly because of technology, says Andrew Baker, managing partner at asset management consultants Tria Investment Partners. “Business models of super funds are under a lot of pressure and the degree to which they are has probably been underestimated,” says Baker. “Regulatory changes and markets have been … Read more
The multi-boutique model is a simple one. High quality investment professionals partner with financially strong institutions. The investment professionals focus exclusively on managing money and the institution takes care of everything else. The business is presented to market as one having all the benefits of a standalone boutique – the investment team is aligned with its … Read more
Michael Drew, like many finance professors, played sport at school. One year he won two coveted cricketing trophies at the end-of-season awards: best and fairest player, and batsman with the highest average-run score. But these achievements did not reveal the full story about Drew’s sporting prowess. “We never won a game and my batting average … Read more
Private-equity returns have outperformed investments in the stock market over the past decade, according to Cambridge Associates’ Australia Private Equity and Venture Capital Index. In the 10 years to December 31, 2011, Australian private-equity net returns were 7.5 per cent per annum. The S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index rose 6.1 per cent per year during the … Read more
Treasury Group is looking for more acquisitions. After adding a seventh asset manager to its stable of boutiques, Treasury Group’s chief executive Andrew McGill expects to sign an agreement with an eighth asset manager before year end. “We’re in active dialogue with a number of parties,” says McGill. “I expect an announcement before the end … Read more
The investment intelligence behind Australia’s largest asset owners and their teams
In-depth interviews with leaders, experts and visionaries in the institutional investment community
Updates on the latest industry policy developments and regulation
The challenges and innovations of custody, technology and operational due diligence
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.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land upon which Conexus Financial sits, the Cadigal of the Eora Nation. We recognise their continuing connection and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and community. We pay our deepest respects to them and their culture, and to Elders both past and present.
