HESTA appoints chief financial officer
Health industry super fund HESTA has appointed Natalie Kelly as its chief financial officer.
ART and AvSuper complete merger
Australia’s second-largest super fund Australian Retirement Trust has successfully absorbed the $2.5 billion and 4800 members of AvSuper.
Retirement investing is for the people, not just the portfolio
As regulatory and public scrutiny ramps up on decumulation, the mission statement of ‘delivering the best possible member outcome’ in Australia’s $3.5 trillion pension sector has just become even more complicated. Stepping out of the return-based objectives in accumulation, a recent Investment Magazine roundtable discussed how super funds are grappling with the different beast that is investing for retirement.
Super funds on the right side of corporate history
Having enjoyed a front row seat to numerous sharemarket scandals over the past decade, controversial AFR columnist turned independent writer Joe Aston says his experience with industry super funds has been overwhelmingly “positive”. While many commentators throw barbs at the growing profit-to-member super sector, Aston will tell the Fiduciary Investors Symposium next week that it is the nation’s biggest champion of corporate governance.
Private credit opportunities shine amid macro-factor minefields
If you believe the critics, the private credit bubble is bound to burst any day now. However, asset owners are still bullish on its return potential and resilience. The Investment Magazine Private Credit Forum 2024 heard how investors can take advantage of an environment where opportunities and challenges co-exist for the asset class.
Prime Super names CEO
Prime Super has appointed Raelene Seales as chief executive, commencing 3 June 2024.
Super funds’ ASX board nominations ‘both foreseeable and manageable’
In the history of the corporation, directors appointed as a nominee of another entity have been commonplace. Large super funds nominating directors to ASX companies is something to be expected, and looks like both a foreseeable and manageable development.
UniSuper hit with service disruptions
UniSuper has experienced major website disruptions that have made its online account services, calculators and application forms temporarily unavailable. In a letter to members on Thursday night, the $130 billion fund confirmed that the issue originated from a third-party service provider.
Ultimate test for private credit investors is yet to come
Even as asset owners increase allocations to private credit, investors have been warned that the ultimate test of the asset class has yet to come. As long as returns adequately compensate investors for risk, the sector will continue to attract new money, but its moment of truth will come when borrowers run into trouble.
Asset owners wary of poor investment governance costing returns
Australian asset owners have come to the consensus that poor investment governance will cost their portfolio at least to some extent, with 68 per cent saying the return penalty would be as great as 1 per cent per annum or more, according to a report by Frontier Advisors and KPMG.
Insignia completes $36.8b MLC Wealth migration to Expand
Insignia Financial has successfully migrated over 94,000 client accounts holding $38.6 billion funds under administration (FUA) from MLC Wrap, MLC Navigator, and associated offers to its Expand platform.
Vanguard Super cuts fees
Vanguard Super has reduced its annual administration fees from 0.35 per cent p.a. to 0.33 per cent p.a. with the administration fee cap lowered from $850,000 to $300,000.
