Six of the biggest names in Australian unlisted investments, including three recently-departed executives from Wilshire Associates’ private markets division, have combined in the formation of Continuity Capital Partners. Ovidio Iglesias, Grant Fleming and Bill Humphreys were managing $3 billion from Australian investors in Wilshire’s Australian and offshore private equity fund-of-funds, before leaving in March alongside numerous other Wilshire executives from around the world. The three subsequently met in a Canberra cafe to discuss their future plans, once Grant Fleming had returned from Tokyo where he’d run Wilshire Associates’ Japan office. “It’s a bit like that old style of joke – an economist, an actuary and an academic walk into a coffee shop and end up starting a new firm!”
The Bowen roundtable: reviewing the reviews
On May 5, just two days after announcing what his Government called the biggest superannuation reform in a lifetime, the Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, the Hon Chris Bowen, sat down with the industry to discuss three of the four reviews which have so preoccupied it this past year. Henry, Ripoll and Cooper are three names bound to echo around the halls of super funds for many years, even if the increase in the compulsory Super Guarantee (SG) from 9 to 12 per cent went against Henry’s recommendations, the banning of commissions was far stronger than anything in Ripoll’s final report, and the response to Cooper has not yet been made. This roundtable was also too early to discuss the ‘Johnson’ report on making Australia a financial services hub, which the Government ended up completely endorsing last month, including clarity that non-Australian assets managed by firms based here would not be subject to any tax liabilities. Nevertheless, the industry had plenty to ask the Minister. The result was a lively roundtable, and we thank Vanguard Investments, which claims to have never paid a commission anywhere in the world, for agreeing to sponsor it. Proceedings kicked off with the big question of whether the SG increase had any chance of getting to the Senate before a Federal election later this year. Active managers challenged: most alpha is just beta
Passive replication of the ‘value premium’ in equity markets might be an old idea, but it’s been combined with a more novel attempt to systematically capture the ‘momentum premium’, in a new product which aims to compete with active equity managers and puts the onus on them to prove their genuine alpha creation.
Catholics look to national business growth
A Roman Catholic superannuation fund is expanding with the appointment of a national business development manager. Funds manager dawns with three familiar firms
Aurora Funds Management, a third-party marketing firm, has linked with two funds managers to form a boutique diversified company which aims to list next month.
Mercer private equity veteran departs
A long-time Mercer Investment Consulting expert in private equity is departing on July 2, into semi-retirement at his Dee Why home.
Soft commodities get seed funding
A major bank has seeded a global “soft commodity” equities-only fund in the belief that growing population pressures will boost the popularity of this asset class in the next five years. AMP Capital places $150m into emerging markets
AMP Capital Investors, through its Future Directions multi-manager product, has placed $150 million in a 4Factor Emerging Markets (EM) equity mandate with Investec Asset Management.
Wilshire investors seeking ‘Continuity’, look no further
Six of the biggest names in Australian unlisted investments, including three recently-departed executives from Wilshire Associates’ private markets division, have combined in the formation of Continuity Capital Partners, the June edition of Investment Magazine has revealed.
Two QLD industry funds fuse into one
The $2.5 billion ESI Super will merge with another Queensland industry fund by early 2011.
