Subscribe Login

Swedish backtracker: AP3 retreats from equities but ploughs into alternatives

by

Like all other pension funds,

Sweden’s AP3 is a long term investor. However, the extraordinary circumstances of the last 18 months has forced the fund to reconsider its short-term risk appetite, and whether there are better ways to allocate its risk budget in this highly volatile environment. “We, as is every fund in the world, are discussing also our short-term risk preference and the big question is: where are equities going next?” says Erik Valtonen, chief investment officer of AP3, who had a chance to compare experiences with his Australian counterparts last month as a speaker at Terrapinn’s Asset Allocation Summit in

Sydney.

Read more

Pages: 1 2 3

GFC creates global fee crackdown, hedgies bear brunt

by

Many superannuation funds have been left disappointed by their hedge fund and fund of fund providers, who promised low correlation relative to the mainstream assets in their portfolio and high absolute returns, yet delivered neither. Mixed performance in 2008 is expected to put greater cost pressure on alternative product fees, and many fundof- fund providers will have their work cut out to defend the scale of fees they have been charging.


Read more

GFC creates global fee crackdown, hedgies bear brunt

by
Many superannuation funds have been left disappointed by their hedge fund and fund of fund providers, who promised low correlation relative to the mainstream assets in their portfolio and high absolute returns, yet delivered neither. Mixed performance in 2008 is expected to put greater cost pressure on alternative product fees, and many fundof- fund providers will have their work cut out to defend the scale of fees they have been charging.

Read more

Pages: 1 2 3

Ice Break

by

Anticipating the credit crunch, some institutional investors readied their portfolios for an imminent bear market, while the majority stuck to strategic weights backed by long-term return assumptions. But who among either group thought that liquidity, the ultimate facilitator of portfolios, would become so thin that their strategies would become compromised for lack of it? In the grip of a fierce market that has wiped out returns from most asset classes and torn the local currency down from its near-greenback-parity high, superannuation funds are managing liquidity pressures that will seemingly not abate for some time.


Read more

Ice Break

by
Anticipating the credit crunch, some institutional investors readied their portfolios for an imminent bear market, while the majority stuck to strategic weights backed by long-term return assumptions. But who among either group thought that liquidity, the ultimate facilitator of portfolios, would become so thin that their strategies would become compromised for lack of it? In the grip of a fierce market that has wiped out returns from most asset classes and torn the local currency down from its near-greenback-parity high, superannuation funds are managing liquidity pressures that will seemingly not abate for some time.

Read more

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Ditch the SAA if you will, but keep it simple

by

Michael BaileyRemember when they used to talk about ‘set-and-forget’ retirement investment strategies? Well, the time-honoured 70:30 is looking like another victim of these ridiculous times. “Take your strategic asset allocation, tear it up, sit down with a clean sheet of paper and a pencil. And an eraser.”

That was the advice of Pippa Malmgren, an economic policymaker for no less than the George W. Bush White House, at a DB Advisors-sponsored Fund Executives Association luncheon last month.

Read more

Ditch the SAA if you will, but keep it simple

by
Michael BaileyRemember when they used to talk about ‘set-and-forget’ retirement investment strategies? Well, the time-honoured 70:30 is looking like another victim of these ridiculous times. “Take your strategic asset allocation, tear it up, sit down with a clean sheet of paper and a pencil. And an eraser.”That was the advice of Pippa Malmgren, an economic policymaker for no less than the George W. Bush White House, at a DB Advisors-sponsored Fund Executives Association luncheon last month.

Read more

Pages: 1 2

Actuaries call for new risk framework to prevent future crises

by

An international actuaries report has proposed a new global risk management framework to prevent future financial crises which includes stricter capital requirements for financial institutions with remuneration incentives focused “excessively” on the short term, and the appointment of a country chief risk supervisor. The report, written by the International Actuarial Association (IAA) and titled Dealing with Predictable Irrationality – Actuarial Ideas to Strengthen Global Financial Risk Management, calls for the introduction of counter cyclical regulatory arrangements which require changes in capital requirements when early warnings of bubbles emerge, and wider use of risk management concepts at a micro level.


Read more

Actuaries call for new risk framework to prevent future crises

by
An international actuaries report has proposed a new global risk management framework to prevent future financial crises which includes stricter capital requirements for financial institutions with remuneration incentives focused “excessively” on the short term, and the appointment of a country chief risk supervisor. The report, written by the International Actuarial Association (IAA) and titled Dealing with Predictable Irrationality – Actuarial Ideas to Strengthen Global Financial Risk Management, calls for the introduction of counter cyclical regulatory arrangements which require changes in capital requirements when early warnings of bubbles emerge, and wider use of risk management concepts at a micro level.

Read more

Pages: 1 2

Private equity NAVs to fall further, but 80

by

Private equity fund valuations should fall by almost one fifth by the end of the first quarter, and could fall another 12 per cent in the second, according to research from alternatives boutique Barwon Investment Partners. While major indexes worldwide fell by roughly 40 per cent in 2008, the reporting lags inherent in valuing the net asset values (NAVs) of private equity funds meant the average vehicle declined between 15 and 25 per cent in value in the second half of 2008, and would continue to descend until mid-2009, Barwon wrote in a recent paper, Private equity NAVs: where are they heading?


Read more

Private equity NAVs to fall further, but 80

by
Private equity fund valuations should fall by almost one fifth by the end of the first quarter, and could fall another 12 per cent in the second, according to research from alternatives boutique Barwon Investment Partners. While major indexes worldwide fell by roughly 40 per cent in 2008, the reporting lags inherent in valuing the net asset values (NAVs) of private equity funds meant the average vehicle declined between 15 and 25 per cent in value in the second half of 2008, and would continue to descend until mid-2009, Barwon wrote in a recent paper, Private equity NAVs: where are they heading?

Read more

Pages: 1 2

Rollover relief on deck, Maritime Super sets sail

by

The $2.6 billion Maritime Super will conduct a full review of its investment portfolios over the next 12 to 18 months on the back of the long-awaited merger of the two maritime industry super funds on March 1. The merger between the $1.5 billion Stevedoring Employees Retirement Fund (SERF) and the $1.1 billion Seafarers Retirement … Read more

Load More

Subscribe now to

Investment Strategies

The investment intelligence behind Australia’s largest asset owners and their teams

CIO Profiles

In-depth interviews with leaders, experts and visionaries in the institutional investment community

Governance

Updates on the latest industry policy developments and regulation

Operations

The challenges and innovations of custody, technology and operational due diligence

Name
SubT1K
SubRM
Our partners

Subscribe to our podcast

Subscribe

Investment Magazine provides in-depth, monthly analysis of trends and developments for all the businesses in which superannuation funds engage‚ including asset allocation, investment manager selection, custody and fund accounting, member administration, group insurance and compliance.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land upon which Conexus Financial sits, the Cadigal of the Eora Nation. We recognise their continuing connection and unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and community. We pay our deepest respects to them and their culture, and to Elders both past and present.

Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Cookie Policy | AI Editorial Policy