A joint head of transition management at Morgan Stanley, Graham Cook, has left the firm.
…as asset management head helps QSuper gain control
QSuper will appoint its first chief investment officer in 2009, aiming to harness internal investment skill, control and oversight as it becomes an APRA-regulated fund, and has appointed Brad Holzberger of Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to temporarily fill the role.
Alan Beasley and tumbleweeds at Ascend AGM
The chairman of collapsed boutique Ascend Asset Management, Alan Beasley, led a deserted general shareholders meeting last week in Sydney, in which only one proxy vote was lodged in person. Step by step with The Future Fund
Not since the STA and ARF merged to form AustralianSuper have the eyes of our industry been so firmly focused as they were on the Future Fund this year. And funnily enough, it was a former boss of STA, Paul Costello, in the hot seat.
The general manager of the Future Fund and his chief investment officer, David Neal, had been leaving it to their chairman, David Murray, to make most of the public comments on investment philosophy. That is, until they sat down with MICHAEL BAILEY to tell the story behind their world-beating return of -0.2 per cent for the first fifteen months of operation.
Step by step with The Future Fund
Not since the STA and ARF merged to form AustralianSuper have the eyes of our industry been so firmly focused as they were on the Future Fund this year. And funnily enough, it was a former boss of STA, Paul Costello, in the hot seat.
The general manager of the Future Fund and his chief investment officer, David Neal, had been leaving it to their chairman, David Murray, to make most of the public comments on investment philosophy. That is, until they sat down with MICHAEL BAILEY to tell the story behind their world-beating return of -0.2 per cent for the first fifteen months of operation. IFS’ group risk kingmaker joins major client
The director of group risk at Industry Fund Services Insurance Broking, Greg Staunton, has left the firm to take a senior position at a major superannuation fund and former client. IFS' group risk kingmaker joins major client
The director of group risk at Industry Fund Services Insurance Broking, Greg Staunton, has left the firm to take a senior position at a major superannuation fund and former client. QIC head of implemented equities goes…
The head of Queensland Investment Corporation’s $12 billion implemented equities program left suddenly on Friday. Pockets of light in a morass of gloom
There are so many disturbing aspects to the financial crisis that it is difficult to focus. In the finance industry itself, it’s as if whole organisations are paralysed in a hopeless pessimism.
Notwithstanding the self-fulfilling nature of this gloom, as the rest of the world starts to slide down the same slope, there are still pockets of light which deserve wider recognition. The first is that many markets have probably overshot fair value on the downside by a wide margin.
Pockets of light in a morass of gloom
There are so many disturbing aspects to the financial crisis that it is difficult to focus. In the finance industry itself, it’s as if whole organisations are paralysed in a hopeless pessimism.
Notwithstanding the self-fulfilling nature of this gloom, as the rest of the world starts to slide down the same slope, there are still pockets of light which deserve wider recognition. The first is that many markets have probably overshot fair value on the downside by a wide margin. As share markets shrink, new ideas grow
There are always a few types of business which can profit from a financial crisis, and it’s been interesting to watch those who hope to be among them subtly play their angles.
The bids for attention have sometimes come from opposite ends of the risk spectrum. For instance this month we had fixed income broker FIIG Securities herald ‘Government-guaranteed bank debt’ as the new asset class du jour, which will trade at a wider spread than traditional Australian Government bonds.
As share markets shrink, new ideas grow
There are always a few types of business which can profit from a financial crisis, and it’s been interesting to watch those who hope to be among them subtly play their angles.
The bids for attention have sometimes come from opposite ends of the risk spectrum. For instance this month we had fixed income broker FIIG Securities herald ‘Government-guaranteed bank debt’ as the new asset class du jour, which will trade at a wider spread than traditional Australian Government bonds. 
