The $1.6 billion industry fund BUSS(Q) is finally getting close to its infrastructure target allocation following a new appointment.
Austsafe to offer advice through AAS relationship
The $900 million industry fund for rural and regional Australia, Austsafe Super, has partnered with Money Solutions to provide financial advice for its members.
LUCRF fixes ‘uncompetitive’ group insurance
LUCRF Super has renegotiated its contract with ING Life a year before it was due to expire, and secured an increase in cover for members at no additional premium.
Invesco hires big in bid for Aus shares recovery
Invesco Australia has hired a senior JANA consultant to spearhead the rebuilding of its Australian equities large cap fund more than 12 months after its top two managers exited, leading to mandate losses over $2 billion.
Pentafin and Direct Portfolio getting together
Unit registry systems provider Pentafin and separately managed account provider Direct Portfolio are finalising details of a merger.
LUCRF fixes 'uncompetitive' group insurance
LUCRF Super has renegotiated its contract with ING Life a year before it was due to expire, and secured an increase in cover for members at no additional premium.
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
