As UK pension reform picks up steam, British policymakers and funds have embarked on fact-finding missions to understand the inner workings of their Australian counterparts, as well as what to learn, and what not to learn, from the superannuation industry and policy.
Leading asset owners Future Fund, HESTA and VFMC have backed the adaptation of a global diversity, equity and inclusion code to Australian conditions. The launch of the code by the CFA Institute follows its successful introduction in the US, Canada and Europe and Australian investors are now invited to join almost 200 existing signatories around the world, who collectively manage about 30 per cent of global institutional assets.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong will headline the next instalment of the Conexus Financial Political Series, with an exclusive briefing on Australia’s international relations, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and next US presidential administration. The rare appearance before a financial services audience comes as Senator Wong makes the case for peace in a world of increasing conflict and complexity.
Health industry super fund HESTA has appointed Tim Pietsch as general manager of compliance.
One of the world’s biggest property investors sees a rebound coming but has warned that not all asset owners are equally well-placed to benefit from it. What the path looks like for an investor from here depends very much on their starting point, but for those with capital to invest today and few legacy issues, it could be a once-in-a-decade opportunity.
Super Consumers Australia has criticised the super industry’s poor delivery of retirement calculators for members, saying many would be better off relying on the one provided by ASIC’s Moneysmart. The consumer advocacy organisation has called on the government to take responsibility and provide access to quality, independent information.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is concerned that super funds have the potential to “amplify shocks” in the financial system due to investment practices such as “the rise in herding around common benchmarks”, in yet another indicator of how Your Future Your Super performance test’s unintended consequences are playing out.
The $87 billion HESTA is using artificial intelligence to enhance its multi-asset quant strategy, but said operating in the highly regulated Australian market means being able to explain how the fund arrived at investment conclusion via these models is almost as crucial as generating alpha.
Long-awaited proposed changes to the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Code will see all ASX-listed minerals explorers and producers having to report more explicitly on how ESG factors are impacting/influencing their projects. It remains to be seen whether more detailed ESG reporting requirements will help the ASX’s very long list of junior explorers attract more capital from institutional investors.
Super fund REST has appointed Inese Kingsmill to its board of directors, replacing Sally Evans who retired in July 2024.
The nation’s largest super fund AustralianSuper has appointed Chandu Bhindi as its first chief liquidity officer.
The $37 billion State Super has been building up its exposure to Asian credits as chief investment officer Charles Wu says the sector is being slightly overlooked. With a 7 per cent net annual outflow, Wu says the fund has a natural bias towards yield instruments; it also means when it comes to managing investment risks, liquidity is more important than anything else in the portfolio.
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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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