The ASIC report into death benefit claims revealing the devastating impact of poor industry practices on grieving Australians has again highlighted the pressing need for change. While some funds have taken up the cudgels, others are still playing hardball on improving their service offering.
A Retirement Income Covenant obligation notwithstanding, there is still a paucity of these complex products on offer. The Advice Through Superannuation draft legislation might offer a way forward.
Perpetual develops international capability
(Pictured: Michael Gordon)
Perpetual Investments is incubating a global share strategy, which is expected to be considered when its arrangement with Wellington Management Company for international shares comes up for review at the end of this year.
For two years now, four investment analysts within the team that look after the Global Resources Fund, launched in 2010, have also been running a global value strategy.
“One of the things we are incubating is a global value fund,” Michael Gordon, group executive Perpetual Investments, PI Business says.
This option is not open to investors yet but Gordon says: “It was a useful thing, a sensible thing to pilot, alongside global resources.”
Opening it to outside investors is something they would consider “down the track” but the regular review of Perpetual Investment’s relationship with Wellington towards the end of this year could provide a catalyst for launch.
“That relationship [with Wellington] has been going for almost three years and there is no secret that Wellington has been underperforming,” Gordon says.
That underperformance may not be great, but is significant compared to the “shoot-the-lights out” outperformance of other Perpetual strategies.
“It does stand out whenever Geoff [Lloyd CEO] does a briefing.”
Internal analysts who also look at global stocks for the incubating fund include large cap industrial company analyst Garry Laurence and small cap industrial company analyst Rosemary Tan. Prior to joining Perpetual two years ago, Tan was an analyst for the Platinum Asset Management Asia Fund. Laurence previously covered the financial sector for global and financial strategies at PM Capital.
“We have two [other] guys who are running the global resources fund. They are looking at global things…that’s sort of four people,” Gordon says.
Overall, Gordon says Perpetual Investments has had a good year.
Perpetual Limited institutional funds under management were $9.9 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2014, out of a total of $31 billion (including assets from The Trust Company).
“The institutional growth has been tremendous, both in Aussie equities and fixed income,” Gordon says.
Global equities has $1.2 billion in funds under management, compared to $22.8 billion for Australian equities.
