Opening up early access to super for housing would have a negative effect on the balances of even those members that don’t dig into their savings, with funds forced to adopt more conservative investment strategies and hold more liquid assets.
The circa $88 billion industry fund for workers in health and community services reckons that alleviating the affordable housing crisis will boost its other investments by easing the cost of living and inflation.
… as BNP picks up Northcape
(pictured: David Braga)
The $8 billion boutique equities manager Northcape Capital has switched securities servicing partners from RBC Capital to BNP Paribas as the manager looks to expand globally. The new arrangement includes middle-office services.
Northcape, which was established in 2005 and which ventured into emerging market equities in 2008, specialises in concentrated portfolios for institutional investors. It has four Australian equities strategies, including a mid-cap and a small-cap strategy, as well as the global emerging markets strategy.
David Braga, the head of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Australia and New Zealand, said Northcape appreciated the custodian’s global “follow-the-sun” service model and sophisticated data delivery and reporting which supported its middle-office services.
“We are also pleased to be able to assist Northcape in its growth strategy to become a global manager with a focus on emerging markets. Helping our partners grow is a major part of our focus,” he said.
Sean Cunningham, the manager’s operations manager, said the appointment reflected Northcape’s focus of aligning its business with the clients’ needs and expectations.
RBC Investor & Treasury Services is the only major custodian in Australia which specialises in services to funds managers, rather than super funds as well. Its long-time anchor client is Perpetual Investments.
