The Superannuation Guarantee: should it be used as a tool of economic policy?

On March 5, Investment &
Technologyand investment administration softwareprovider, SimCorp, held a
roundtablediscussion on last November’s “economists’open letter” to the Rudd
Government.Signed by eight of

Australia’s
leading economicminds, the letter advocated a shorttermreduction in the
superannuationguarantee to 6 per cent, and a relaxing ofsuper access rules, as
an economic stimulusduring this financial crisis. The letter wenton to advocate
a gradual increase in theSG as

Australia’s
economy recovered, to aproposed 12 per cent by 2015.

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The Superannuation Guarantee: should it be used as a tool of economic policy?

On March 5, Investment & Technologyand investment administration softwareprovider, SimCorp, held a roundtablediscussion on last November’s “economists’open letter” to the Rudd Government.Signed by eight of Australia’s leading economicminds, the letter advocated a shorttermreduction in the superannuationguarantee to 6 per cent, and a relaxing ofsuper access rules, as an economic stimulusduring this financial crisis. The letter wenton to advocate a gradual increase in theSG as Australia’s economy recovered, to aproposed 12 per cent by 2015.

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Swedish backtracker: AP3 retreats from equities but ploughs into alternatives

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.


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Swedish backtracker: AP3 retreats from equities but ploughs into alternatives

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.

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GFC creates global fee crackdown, hedgies bear brunt

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

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

Ice Break

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

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

Ditch the SAA if you will, but keep it simple

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

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

Actuaries call for new risk framework to prevent future crises

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.


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Actuaries call for new risk framework to prevent future crises

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