Perth’s $8 billion GESB public sector fund has awarded three big new mandates to active international equities managers.
Russell plots comeback with alternatives action
Symon Parish and Greg Liddell, the heads of investments and consulting at Russell, are searching for alternatives consultants and research analysts as the company aims to recruit 27 people worldwide in a decisive push into alternatives.
Russell plots comeback with alternatives onslaught
Symon Parish and Greg Liddell, the heads of investments and consulting at Russell, are actively searching for alternatives consultants and manager researchers as the company aims to recruit 27 people worldwide in a decisive push into alternatives.
Putting the ‘life’ into life insurance
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Putting the ‘life’ into life insurance Say what you like about retail life insurance, it does tend to come up with innovations that the group side aspires to. So Unbalanced wonders whether any group BDM is willing to put themselves out there as far as Jordan Hawke, the general manager of Asteron, did in launching the insurer’s new customer wellness initiative last month. Dubbed Asteron Life, the first phase of the program will see the more portly policyholders challenged to improve their health, in return for a reduction of their premium loading. Hawke volunteered himself as the Asteron Life guinea pig, and went to the doctor’s to get a series of health measures, including for body-mass index (BMI), cholesterol levels and the presence of sugars implicated in Type 2 diabetes.
Putting the ‘life’ into life insurance
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Putting the ‘life’ into life insurance Say what you like about retail life insurance, it does tend to come up with innovations that the group side aspires to. So Unbalanced wonders whether any group BDM is willing to put themselves out there as far as Jordan Hawke, the general manager of Asteron, did in launching the insurer’s new customer wellness initiative last month. Dubbed Asteron Life, the first phase of the program will see the more portly policyholders challenged to improve their health, in return for a reduction of their premium loading. Hawke volunteered himself as the Asteron Life guinea pig, and went to the doctor’s to get a series of health measures, including for body-mass index (BMI), cholesterol levels and the presence of sugars implicated in Type 2 diabetes.
Dear Jeremy: make profit-to-members the default
The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees has submitted to the Cooper Review that all default superannuation funds should be managed under the not-for-profit governance model. AIST CEO, FIONA REYNOLDS, here argues why that should be the case, acknowledging a few areas where the model itself could be improved along the way.
Dear Jeremy: make profit-to-members the default
The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees has submitted to the Cooper Review that all default superannuation funds should be managed under the not-for-profit governance model. AIST CEO, FIONA REYNOLDS, here argues why that should be the case, acknowledging a few areas where the model itself could be improved along the way.
Infrastructure allocations below 3 per cent “meaningless”
While infrastructure as an asset class has been embraced by pension funds in Europe and Australia alike, in the US it is still a nascent concept. The difference is largely down to a lack of privatisation in the US, where infrastructure historically has been provided by local and state government. In North America, funds such as the C$87.4 billion Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) and Canada Pension Plan have looked abroad for investment opportunities in infrastructure, with the OTPP recently acquiring an additional 35.5 per cent stake in UK-based Bristol International Airport in a deal with Macquarie Airports. The fund had acquired a 14.5 per cent stake in 2002, the September purchase lifting its holding in BIA to 50 per cent.
Infrastructure allocations below 3 per cent “meaningless”
While infrastructure as an asset class has been embraced by pension funds in Europe and Australia alike, in the US it is still a nascent concept. The difference is largely down to a lack of privatisation in the US, where infrastructure historically has been provided by local and state government. In North America, funds such as the C$87.4 billion Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) and Canada Pension Plan have looked abroad for investment opportunities in infrastructure, with the OTPP recently acquiring an additional 35.5 per cent stake in UK-based Bristol International Airport in a deal with Macquarie Airports. The fund had acquired a 14.5 per cent stake in 2002, the September purchase lifting its holding in BIA to 50 per cent.
The case for hedge fund betas: lessons learned about correlations
US-based quant shop AQR Capital has helped pioneer the notion of hedge fund beta as an investable product. With first-year performance numbers now in, GREG BRIGHT spoke with the firm’s managing and founding principal, Cliff Asness. Cliff Asness has been talking about hedge fund beta for some years. He wrote a paper about it, with others, in 2001 in which he had the audacity to suggest that most hedge funds were more correlated with the markets than they had let on, or thought. The paper made him rather unpopular, he says, with his hedge fund colleagues.
The case for hedge fund betas: lessons learned about correlations
US-based quant shop AQR Capital has helped pioneer the notion of hedge fund beta as an investable product. With first-year performance numbers now in, GREG BRIGHT spoke with the firm’s managing and founding principal, Cliff Asness. Cliff Asness has been talking about hedge fund beta for some years. He wrote a paper about it, with others, in 2001 in which he had the audacity to suggest that most hedge funds were more correlated with the markets than they had let on, or thought. The paper made him rather unpopular, he says, with his hedge fund colleagues.
The rise of Capital Guaranteed: more than a knee-jerk reaction
Since compulsory superannuation was introduced in the early 1990s, the focus of financial planners has been on strategies to maximise contributions and accumulation; and the focus of product manufacturers has been on products to cater to those strategies. But as an increasing number of super fund members move from the accumulation phase of their financial lifecycle into the post-retirement phase, the focus of planners and manufacturers has likewise begin to shift. SIMON HOYLE reports.
