Custodians and administrators are preparing to be challenged by competitors and regulators in 2012. SIMON MUMME reports.
GMO shuts down Australian stock-investment team
Grantham, Mayo and Van Otterloo & Co. (GMO), the 35-year old Boston-based asset manager, has closed its Australian stock-investing unit with the loss of an unknown number of jobs. The GMO Australian Equities Trust had $198 million invested and its Small Companies Trust had $7.5 million invested as of March 31, according to the Australian … Read more
Sustainable Growth Advisers wants sustainable funds
Australia’s $1.4 trillion of superannuation money is proving irresistible to foreign funds. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP, a Stanford-Connecticut based US$3 billion asset manager, is speaking with consultants Jana and Frontier as well as MLC as it seeks to launch product that will appeal in part to Australian pension funds. “The Australian market lends itself to … Read more
Platypus’ genesis in early responsibility
In 1990 Don Williams’ father died. Williams, then a soft-commodities analyst at AMP, was suddenly thrust into the role of asset manager for his recently widowed mother who inherited 5000 acres of property, the majority of which was planted with cotton. The Wee Waa native sold land and machinery to pay off debt, leased other … Read more
Superpartners CEO to quit
Greg Camm, the chief executive of Australia’s biggest superannuation back-office company, says he will quit at the end of August, the Australian Financial Review reported. Citing a letter written by Camm, the newspaper says the CEO is leaving when his contract expires as he is unable to commit to another four or five years at … Read more
Currency management strategies in Australia
A career spanning more than 40 years in the finance industry has taught Mark Johnson, senior adviser at Gresham Investment House, to appreciate the almighty influence of currency on Australia’s fortunes. “Currency dominates the Australian economy,” Johnson says. “It’s the number one background issue.” It’s an issue, too, that has persisted through the pre-float era … Read more
Lodestar Capital to shut
Lodestar Capital Partners will close down on June 30 after more than five years managing money. The Australian stock fund manager, which is 33-per-cent-owned by Nabinvest, says its main fund has outperformed the stock market by about 1 per cent a year since inception on March 1, 2007. “This has been a difficult decision to … Read more
ASIC concerned by dark pool, HFT trading
The Australian Securities Investment Commission is concerned that so-called dark pool and high frequency trading may damage price discovery or lead to market crashes. Belinda Gibson, ASIC’s deputy chair, says high frequency trading could lead to abuses and market disruption. High frequency traders use mathematical formulas to trade millions of stocks within seconds to take … Read more
Peter Morgan, market animal
Peter Morgan was sitting all alone to one side of a lecture hall at Melbourne Business School. He had just spent two days on Bells Beach and his skin was a dark brown that contrasted strikingly with his sun-and-salt bleached blond hair. When it came time for Morgan to address an audience of finance and … Read more
