by Greg Bright IOOF, a 160-year old diverse financial firm built up in recent years largely through takeovers, has had its ups and downs. An increasingly mooted potential merger with 120-year-old Perpetual Trustees, which has had a more conservative growth trajectory, makes a lot of sense. But first, to that ‘scandal’. Dominic McCormick, a researcher…
The funds management industry has known for a long time that human foibles – behavioural biases – can make or break an investment strategy. Now, however, State Street has put together a body of research which goes way beyond behavioral finance in the study of the human element to investments. After about 18 months of…
Astarte Capital Partners, a London-based alternatives firm, has come up with an innovative platform structure, with no management fees, which is offering a tight range of private equity opportunities backed by niche real assets strategies. Founder Stavros Siokos, who was visiting Australia last week as part of a US$200 million capital raising, says that he…
Pzena Investment Management out of New York, a US, global and emerging markets house, can’t see anything much of value in Australia right now. But globally the spread between the cheapest and most expensive stocks is very wide, providing opportunities. Pzena is a rare breed these days – a ‘deep’ value manager which looks to…
Research and experience by Parametric, the US implementation manager, has thrown up a five-point checklist for emerging markets investors, blending the benefits of active and passive styles. Some active protection strategies, such as currency hedging, are just not worth chasing. According to Raewyn Williams, Parametric Australia’s managing director, research, super funds need to keep the…
The sell-off in many emerging markets after the US election is starting to correct as the protectionist rhetoric of president-elect Donald Trump softens. According to big US manager Brandywine Global Investment Management, there is unlikely to be a crisis because of Trump. Brandywine, a Legg Mason affiliate manager, has studied the ‘Trump effect’ from a…
BT Financial Group has picked up the award for Best Use of IT in Private Banking or Wealth Management at the international Banking Technology Awards in London for its Panorama client platform. “It’s always great to get external recognition,” John Shuttleworth, BTFG’s general manager of platforms and investments, said last week. “Panorama is a significant…
Yarra Capital Management, which last week announced the recruitment of Mark Burgess as its independent chair, is on track for a January launch, following the management buyout of the former Goldman Sachs Asset Management Australian equities and fixed income businesses. Burgess, the former fund manager and chief executive of the Future Fund, has been building…
by David Chaplin NZ fund managers have gained a tenuous toehold in the approximately NZ$6 billion (A$5.8 billion) ‘iwi’ investment market, the indigenous funds consisting mostly of real assets, according to Phil Barry, director of Wellington-based consultancy firm, TDB Advisory. Barry said just-published TDB Advisory research into iwi assets found only two groups – the North…
By Greg Bright NSW Treasury, which oversees the $70 billion NSW Government’s T-Corp amalgamation of the underlying investments of three separate Government-controlled funds, is expected to announce the winner of Australia’s largest-ever custody tender in the next couple of weeks. After a review and tender process, which lasted more than a year, JP Morgan has…
