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Many super funds have backed the integration of
environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks into their portfolios, but few
have communicated this in product disclosure statements or show evidence of
factoring them into their investment decisions, the Australian Institute of
Superannuation Trustees (AIST) Governance conference was told last month.
The funds management industry is in trouble. Of that there is little doubt. Head count among the major managers has been cut by at least 10 per cent, according to a Watson Wyatt report last month. Among hedge fund managers, the head count is down an average 20 per cent. And the worst is yet to come, from the funds managers’ business perspective. 
One of Ian Silk’s favourite quotes about the 2006 merger between STA and ARF is that “the planets were in alignment”. Perhaps a minor astrological miracle is what it takes for a super fund merger to get up these days, because nothing remotely comparable to the $20 billion get-together that created AustralianSuper has happened since. 
