DTCC has published a new white paper to raise awareness of key risks and emerging threats facing the finance and investment industry and proposes actions to help address them. While the stability and resiliency of the global financial marketplace has improved significantly since the 2008 crisis, the paper published by DTCC (The Depository Trust &…
The $40 billion NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has found a new head of investment operations in-house. In an appointment confirmed last week, Amy Hitchcock, previously NZS manager business solutions group, takes over the head of investment operations spot vacated by Nikki Bell. Bell had a more than decade-long career at NZS, rising to the head…
By Greg Bright Pinnacle Investment Management, the independent Australian-based multi-affiliate manager, has recruited another senior executive to assist its global positioning in the institutional world. Multi-affiliate managers, Australian or otherwise, are a great barometer for the future of our funds management industry. Pinnacle has hired Duncan Hodnett, the former head of institutional business, and de-facto…
While pushing back its deadline a bit, the ASX has made great progress towards replacing its old CHESS transactions administration system with the new distributed ledger technology, colloquially known as ‘blockchain’. The ASX will be the first stock exchange in the world to embrace the new technology. In a paper on its website the ASX has…
IOOF has become the initial investor in a new international micro-cap fund launched by Brookvine and managed by US specialist Thomson Horstmann & Bryant. International micro-caps represent an interesting new asset class for Australian investors. The great thing about international micro-caps is that they provide the same entrepreneurial growth opportunities that Aussie ones do, but…
The New Zealand subsidiary of National Australia Bank, BNZ, has split its wealth management division along product and advice lines, hiring an executive from the Australian parent to fill one of the new roles. Following the redesign, current BNZ head of wealth, Donna Nicolof, has been named general manager private bank and wealth advisory while…
Government-related entities account for almost 70 per cent of assets invested by the world’s 300 largest pension funds, according to a global study by the ‘Thinking Ahead Institute’ (TAI) – an offshoot of global consultancy firm Willis Towers Watson . The report shows public sector and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) manage US$7.1 trillion and US$5.3…
Listed markets rather than private equity offer the best avenue to capture the upside of disruptive technologies, according to Ark Invest founder Catherine Wood. Wood, in Australia and New Zealand this month for a Nikko Asset Management roadshow, said venture capital could not build the necessary scale the current wave of innovative technology firms needed…
Institutional investors expect to allocate more to their various alternatives strategies in the next 12 months, on average, in every asset class except hedge funds, according to latest survey by the global alternatives research firm Prequin. But most have lowered their sights on expected returns. Infrastructure will get the biggest increase, with 43 per cent…
Heitman, the global real estate investment management firm, has taken on its first Australian client commitment to its US real estate debt business, which is one of the fastest growing set of strategies for the firm. There are several reasons for the popularity, according to David Maki. Maki, a senior managing director in private real…
