The Germans had Paul the psychic octopus and the Kiwis had Sonny Wool the tipping sheep but the rugby-mad folk at Towers Watson tried to take a more scientific approach to predicting who would win the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Mark Thomas shows some soul
Anyone who has switched on Channel Nine recently will know about its adoption of Donald Trump’s television brainchild, The Apprentice. For those who haven’t seen an episode or dodged the ads: Australia’s Celebrity Apprentice is a TV series in which a number of famous Australians – such as Warwick Capper, Lisa Curry-Kenny and Jesinta Campbell – strive under the tutelage of Mark Bouris, founder of financial planning group Yellow Brick Road, to develop business acumen. For one of the show’s episodes, the apprentices held a charity art auction at Harrison Galleries in Paddington, inner-city Sydney, last month.
NGS Super’s catch of the day
Many people would like to think that super fund trustees are reliable. That they, figuratively speaking, are people who each have “a safe pair of hands”.
Can super serve all generations?
At a recent industry conference, in one of the more interactive sessions, a group of trustees and staff was asked to discuss and respond to a series of scenarios facing a superannuation fund board in the latter part of this decade. This sort of blue-sky exercise is not uncommon at industry gatherings. One of the scenarios posited a large fund that had made a direct investment in a national aged care provider, primarily as a secure, long-term investment. The decision was being interpreted by observers as being partly in response to Government urgings for more investment in the aged sector and a natural progression for a fund with more than 15 per cent of members in pension products that included an innovative program of “health and lifestyle” support. What was striking about the discussion was the second aspect of the scenario.
Unlimited: being direct with private equity secondaries
The secondary market for private equity harbours a diverse range of investment opportunities. But how should superannuation funds approach this market: by acquiring commitments made by other private equity investors or by targeting the underlying portfolio companies in these programs? Investment Magazine put this question to investment professionals in a roundtable supported by The Camelot Group LLC. Simon Mumme reports.
In the past 25 years the secondary market for private equity has evolved from one in which investors
BlackRock, Goldman worried about China
The chief investment officers of BlackRock and Goldman Sachs & Partners Australia are among 16 who are more pessimistic about markets than they were a year ago and are particularly concerned about China and Europe, according to a Financial Services Council survey of CIOs.
