MLC Investment Management has revealed its plans for 2010 and it’s going to be a busy year doing as little as possible, says Brian Parker, MLC’s investment strategist. Speaking exclusively with I&T News, Parker said that, post-GFC, MLC will not be active and it will not be doing Tactical Asset Allocation each month. “We’re being asked to manage 15-, 20-, 40-year money, but being asked to manage it in 3- to 5-year chunks,” he explained. “So, if you’re going out on a limb to take risks, or take some risks off the table, then you can be wrong for several years before you’re proved right. How do you combat that?” MLC will be doing this is two ways, he said. “We’re not going to be very active.
Fund managers indulge in fall from grace
The funds management industry has profited from manufacturing too many bad, unnecessarily complicated products, according to Alan McFarlane, the former managing director of global equities boutique Walter Scott, and had for too long supported the “malign” commissions-based remuneration system still used by many financial planning dealer groups. Voicing his personal opinions, and not those of Walter Scott as a company, McFarlane said the fat profits on offer in the industry had attracted an influx of managers and spurred the development of too many complex products in the name of risk management, benefiting practitioners far more than investors. Even though investment outcomes can never be guaranteed, the industry as a whole put too much faith in the effectiveness of diversification – and new products – to offset risk.
LGSS and EISS in stalemate over ‘secret’ merger plan
The stalemate between two sister funds, the Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme (EISS) and the NSW Local Government Superannuation Scheme (LGSS), over a controversial merger plan continues as the LGSS seeks documents explaining the case for amalgamation, and calls for the head of EISS to resign. As Investment & Technology went to press, the LGSS was still waiting for the EISS board to authorise the handover of the merger documents they gave to the NSW Treasury, which were understood to contain a trust deed, constitution and potential board composition.
Things will probably be okay now … but maybe not
If you thought the global financial crisis was over, don’t be too hasty. Scenario analysis by MLC Investment Management – placing probabilities against 40 different scenarios – puts the possibility of further massive falls in values for some asset classes a little too likely, or not unlikely enough, for comfort.
While not alarmist, with the most likely probability being continued recovery, the analysis illustrates the uncertainty embedded in asset values over the medium term, particularly for Australian and global equities and emerging markets. Susan Gosling, head of capital markets research for MLC, has produced a summary of the analysis to illustrate recent asset allocation adjustments to some MLC funds – the “horizon” series and long-term absolute returns fund. Universal picture: Back to the future with Cooper
If Australia’s fund members are divided into four categories as Jeremy Cooper wants them to be, there’s a good chance that much of the colour and innovation we see today could be lost. To me the most startling recommendation was the one which, in my opinion, would see just about every Australian worker not already operating a self-managed fund placed instead into a “universal” category, under which they would be sent “back to the future”.
They’d be offered only one investment strategy (confusingly the report says this should include a target-date strategy), with vanilla insurance and minimal reporting. Isn’t this the kind of thing BT Investment Management came in and broke up during the 1980s? (Well, Ian Martin is on the Review panel.) I say “just about every Australian worker” will be deemed “universal” because under the Cooper recommendations, this is where they will end up if they do not make an express choice otherwise. Infrastructure: how super funds are changing the world
Investment Administration Conference 2010 Speakers
Daniel McNicholas, Director, Merrill Lynch Dan McNicholas is a Director at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong and is Head of Financing Sales for Global Markets Financing & Futures in the Pacific Rim. Dan manages the sales, consulting and capital introductions activities associated with prime brokerage, equity swaps, securities lending and futures. He joined Merrill Lynch … Read more
Investment Administration Conference 2010 Speakers
Andrew Proebstl, Chief Executive, legalsuper Andrew Proebstl is the Chief Executive of legalsuper, Australia’s largest industry super fund for the legal profession with FUM in excess of $1.1 billion. legalsuper is rated as a platinum fund by SuperRatings and has been awarded five Heron Quality Stars by the Heron Partnership. Since 2003, legalsuper has more … Read more
Investment Administration Conference 2010 Speakers
Byram Johnston, Chief Executive Officer, MainstreamBPO Byram is a founder and CEO of MainstreamBPO. Before establishing MainstreamBPO, Byram was the managing partner for international consulting firms and outsourcing organisations including Arthur Andersen, Andersen Consulting, AT Kearney, PA Consulting, The IQ business group and FinancialBPO. He has a wealth of experience in business strategy, operating models … Read more
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Investment Administration Conference 2010 Speakers
Warwick Angus, Executive Director, Computershare Warwick has over 16 years experience in financial services working across Australia, Asia, North America and Europe. He joined Computershare in December 2002 and has overall global responsibility for Computershare’s business development and go-to-market strategies. Since July 2007 Warwick has taken executive responsibility for the development and expansion of Computershare’s … Read more
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