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The stereotype is familiar: two gun portfolio managers leave an institution, ‘hang a shingle’ outside a small office, begin running money and living their entrepreneurial dream. But like all stereotypes, this is far too convenient and masks the complexity of some boutiques’ operations. There is no standard model for boutiques. “It could be as simple as a guy with a spreadsheet and a phone, trading Australian equities through IRESS,” says Bruce Russell, a former Morse consultant who now contracts for Victorian Funds Management Corporation. Sometimes the start-ups form when an entire product team at an institution walks – recall how the nine-person domestic equities team at Suncorp became Solaris Investment Management, almost overnight, in 2007. But as new business ventures, boutiques must come to terms with institutional demands for operational strength, and most have no choice but to outsource their back-office functions.
Walk outside MTAA House in Canberra, look to the left, and you are rewarded with a pretty good view of the flags flying on Capitol Hill. But it’s not just location that Australia’s Parliament House and 39 Brisbane Avenue, Barton, have in common. The most important man in both buildings seems to be a control freak. In Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s case, the autocratic tendencies reveal themselves in a prodigious work ethic, which sees him micromanage the release of announcements at the same rate he burns out ministerial staff. Down the road, Michael Delaney is in the unique position of having created the two organsiations which take up all of level 3 at MTAA House – the Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA Ltd), and its associated industry superannuation fund, MTAA Super. At the time of writing, he remained the executive director of the former, and principal executive officer of the latter. According to those who’ve been on the boards of either or both over the years, there’s not much that goes on in this House which the boss doesn’t know about, either. 
People are doing a lot of things a bit differently these days. They’re spending a little more time with their kids, for instance. According to the trashy magazines, they are also being a little more patient/ understanding with their spouses. They’re also being a little more cautious with their spending. Blame it on the GFC. In the running of super funds, things have changed a little too. Risk controls, clearly, are being discussed with more passion at board and lower levels. And relationships with most service providers have been reassessed. For some, asset allocation processes may have altered, with consultants being given more, or less, power to make decisions. But has anything really changed that much? And will the little which has changed last that long? 
The era of advertising and sponsorships by superannuation funds is surely over. The exact date it ended will be recorded as April 23, 2010, when HOSTPLUS dramatically pulled its major sponsorship of National Rugby League team Melbourne Storm, after the jaw-dropping revelations of salary cap rorting. But I’d argue the show was over three days earlier, when Jeremy Cooper’s Super System Review delivered its preliminary report introducing ‘MySuper’, the quiet younger brother of the default option. 
