Sorry Sun, the coal mining award is silent on super

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The $4.1 billion Auscoal Super has not been named as a default fund under the Australian Industrial Relations Commission’s award modernisation process, and a SunSuper attempt to have itself named as default has been thwarted, after it was deemed unnecessary to add a superannuation clause to the Black Coal Mining Industry Award. The Award was one of only a handful of awards recently revised by the AIRC that did not include superannuation. Colin McGuinness, strategic projects manager at Auscoal, said not being specifically named in the award was not a problem for the fund.

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UniSuper’s proprietary risk program challenges assumptions

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UniSuper, the $23 billion Australian pension fund for those working in higher education and research, has developed an in-house risk budgeting and factor analysis program that monitors the extent to which the fund deviates from its strategic asset allocation, and ensures the fund’s active risk is allocated appropriately between managers. Drawing on past academic research, the head of research and risk management David Schneider and head of public markets Dennis Sams, have extended conventional models to set a minimum excess return hurdle at which active risk is appropriate, and encapsulate the extent to which the active risk assigned to each of the fund’s managers is consistent with the expected performance of those managers.


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UniSuper’s proprietary risk program challenges assumptions

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Bone hails targeted rebalancing as better way

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By adopting a contrarian approach to rebalancing which takes account of both assets and liabilities, super funds could enhance long-term returns and reduce the volatility within their portfolios, new research reveals. Rebalancing Revisited, a paper by Syd Bone, former chief executive of VFMC, and Andrew Goddard, an ex- Russell investment veteran, advocates super funds rebalance to a preset target, for example an investment return target of CPI +5 per cent per annum.


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Bone hails targeted rebalancing as better way

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} By adopting a contrarian approach to rebalancing which takes account of both assets and liabilities, super funds could enhance long-term returns and reduce the volatility within their portfolios, new research reveals. Rebalancing Revisited, a paper by Syd Bone, former chief executive of VFMC, and Andrew Goddard, an ex- Russell investment veteran, advocates super funds rebalance to a preset target, for example an investment return target of CPI +5 per cent per annum.

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Solaris breaks ground with ‘performance fee only’ option

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Solaris Investment Management, the boutique created by Suncorp’s former Australian equities team, has taken the unusual step of offering investors a ‘performance fee only’ option for both of its funds. The Brisbane-based manager, which has amassed $1.1 billion since its January 2008 inception, has thus far charged retail investors a 90 bps management fee for its flagship Core Australian Equity Fund. However the separate performance-only class of units, which are set to have the Australian Wealth Management dealer group as an early adopter, will charge a base management fee of just 10 bps. It will then levy a performance fee of 30 per cent of any returns above its benchmark, the S&P/ASX200 Accumulation Index, subject to a high water mark with no re-set.


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Solaris breaks ground with ‘performance fee only’ option

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Solaris Investment Management, the boutique created by Suncorp’s former Australian equities team, has taken the unusual step of offering investors a ‘performance fee only’ option for both of its funds. The Brisbane-based manager, which has amassed $1.1 billion since its January 2008 inception, has thus far charged retail investors a 90 bps management fee for its flagship Core Australian Equity Fund. However the separate performance-only class of units, which are set to have the Australian Wealth Management dealer group as an early adopter, will charge a base management fee of just 10 bps. It will then levy a performance fee of 30 per cent of any returns above its benchmark, the S&P/ASX200 Accumulation Index, subject to a high water mark with no re-set.

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Shorting not the only risk for funds in sec lending

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The government ban and new disclosure regime for short-selling are misguided and had exacerbated sharemarket volatility, while the opacity of securities lending covered up risks for super funds, the Risk- Metrics Governance conference was told in late March. The “two-tiered market” resulting from the ban, in which financials and selected other companies could not be shorted had caused “uncertainty, declining valuations and increased volatility,” said Tim McGowen, the outgoing chief executive of hedge fund Fortitude Capital.


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Shorting not the only risk for funds in sec lending

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The government ban and new disclosure regime for short-selling are misguided and had exacerbated sharemarket volatility, while the opacity of securities lending covered up risks for super funds, the Risk- Metrics Governance conference was told in late March. The “two-tiered market” resulting from the ban, in which financials and selected other companies could not be shorted had caused “uncertainty, declining valuations and increased volatility,” said Tim McGowen, the outgoing chief executive of hedge fund Fortitude Capital.

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JPMorgan WSS next to take up SWIFT Funds

In a global roll-out, JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services ( JPMorgan WSS) will go live with automated managed fund transactions through the SWIFT network in the second half of the year, joining HSBC Securities Services, RBC Dexia and Vanguard Investments, who became cornerstone users of the technology in Australia last month. The transactions cover applications, redemptions, confirmations, status reports and reporting, which are sent using SWIFT Funds ISO20022- compliant messages across the SWIFT network.


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JPMorgan WSS next to take up SWIFT Funds

In a global roll-out, JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services ( JPMorgan WSS) will go live with automated managed fund transactions through the SWIFT network in the second half of the year, joining HSBC Securities Services, RBC Dexia and Vanguard Investments, who became cornerstone users of the technology in Australia last month. The transactions cover applications, redemptions, confirmations, status reports and reporting, which are sent using SWIFT Funds ISO20022- compliant messages across the SWIFT network.

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Super funds coy on backing National Broadband Network

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Super funds are eyeing the Rudd Government’s $43 billion National Broadband Network as a potential investment opportunity, but say it must be competitive on risk and return grounds. Last month, the Government announced the establishment of a new company to build and operate the network, to be funded through the Building Australia Fund and the issuance of Aussie Infrastructure Bonds (AIBs).


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