Perennial Real Estate Investments is on the cusp of rolling out what is believed to be the world’s first listed global property securities fund that formally incorporates environmental, social and governance factors into the investment decision process.
First AASpire client goes live…
The NSW Electrical Superannuation Scheme (NESS) last month became the first AAS client to transfer to the member administrator’s new system, an overhauled version of Atune known as AASpire.
…as Atune’s true believer finally looks elsewhere
The long and troubled relationship between AAS and LUCRF Super is coming to an end.
The Fear of being a Loaner – keeping the sharks out of your fund’s lending pool
Until recently, securities lending had all the hallmarks of a ‘free lunch’. It was modest, but easy money for superannuation funds. Securities were usually lent through a principal program, in which the custodian took on the counter-party and collateral risk, and provided that custodian was reputable, very little could go wrong. The custodian on-lent the … Read more
Industry funds risk losing competitive advantage – Lally tells FEAL
Many industry funds are losing their competitive advantage – their fees are going up while commercial fund fees are coming down because of increasing scale and technology. “If we’re not careful, they’ll pass us in the middle,” according to Tony Lally, the chief executive of Sunsuper. “Our competitive advantage is going and for many it’s … Read more
Regrets… Australian funds may have a few
Super funds need to “take a step back” in the current environment, however, there are a lot of opportunities for skilled managers, according to participants in a recent Watson Wyatt roundtable. Five Watson Wyatt investment consultants from the UK, US and Australia, participated in the discussion, which aimed to provide guidance to large funds in … Read more
Ascalon/Private Collection deal chases promotion power
Former colleagues at MLC/Lend Lease, Nick Basile, Krystyna Weston and Sarah Brennan, have been reunited following Ascalon Capital Managers possession of a controlling stake in The Private Collection. The deal means Ascalon’s boutique funds managers will now be promoted in the retail space. Ascalon, which is part owned by St George Bank and Kaplan Equity, … Read more
MTAA Super believes in the hereafter…tax
MTAA Super has reconfigured its Australian equities managers for the first time in two years, splitting a Macquarie Funds Management mandate in half and now equally weighting three enhanced equities managers in that asset class. BlackRock Investment Management has been awarded an after-tax Australian equities mandate of $450 million, with the third, unchanged manager being … Read more
Boutiques and GARP managers found most CGT efficient
Small boutiques and growth-at-a-reasonable-price Australian equity managers have achieved the biggest reductions in realised short-term capital gains since the ‘12 month rule’ came into effect in September 1999, a study by the Australian School Of Business (UNSW) has discovered. The study, ‘Do Active Fund Managers Care About Capital Gains Tax Efficiency?’ by UNSW associate professor … Read more
Super funds to be more like banks
Three not-for-profit superannuation funds are planning to launch a transactional banking facility by July this year. The funds will issue cards with payment linked directly to members’ super balances, allowing members to withdraw money as they need it, much like a bank card linked to a bank account. Cuscal, a provider of transactional banking to … Read more
Weekly, not daily unit pricing urged for funds
The debate over whether crediting rates or unit pricing is the better value attribution model for a superannuation fund has clouded a more important question of whose interest the frequency of attribution is made in, according to business systems consultant Askit Consulting. Jules Gribble, director of Askit Consulting, told an audience dominated by industry superannuation … Read more
A tale of two superannuants
The internationally-renowned community advocate, Rhonda Galbally, made a piercing observation about us all at last month’s Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees’ Sydney luncheon discussing retirement adequacy. “The lack of a whopping great inheritance tax shows Australians don’t mind social inequity,” she said. It’s certainly true that older, cashed-up Australians have been doing disproportionately better out … Read more
