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(pictured: Michael Aked) When investors think about mean reversion they normally think about asset valuations. They should also think about liquidity, because transaction costs associated with liquidity also mean revert. They are currently at all-time lows and are set to shoot back up. A report by Research Affiliates of the US says that the costs to trade…

(pictured: Eddie Perkin) There is no doubt that the markets have become more jittery in the past two weeks, as the outcome of the US election gets more difficult to predict. Here, three prominent US-based managers have the final say… from this publication, that is. Edward Perkin, chief equity investment officer, Eaton Vance, says that despite…

(pictured: Tony Nejasmic) Automation could reduce New Zealand’s A$30 billion KiwiSaver transfer market to less than a week from the current month-long process, according to Tony Nejasmic, Calastone’s Sydney-based head of business development in Australasia. Nejasmic said last week that the clunky, labour-intensive KiwiSaver member transfer system was ripe for streamlining with a number of providers…

Perhaps it’s time for big super funds to elevate their retirement solutions staff with the appointment of a ‘chief retirement income officer’ to complement the role of chief investment officer, according to a report produced jointly by KPMG and Challenger. Funds have been working on the problematic retirement incomes issue for years now, well aware…

Believe it or not, the funds management industry is in better shape than it has been for years. However, disruption, due to a raft of technological developments, is happening now. Managers have to adapt quickly in order to survive, according to a paper by SEI Investment Manager Services. SEI, a major US-based fund manager, administrator…

(pictured: Mike Baird) by Greg Bright He may have been on the back foot over shark deterrents on NSW beaches and the cruel world of greyhound racing, but last week the NSW premier, Mike Baird, was able to stand proud before the Australian investment community on a much more important subject. He told the annual Impact…

(pictured:  Ben Thornley)  What is making impact investing a discrete asset class is the gradual development of robust data and analyses. Like the ESG factors which have become ingrained in the management of big super funds, impact investing is establishing itself as a legitimate investment sub-set… with some difficulty. According to Ben Thornley, a managing…

(pictured: Kim Catechis)  Those who stayed the course with emerging markets over the last few bleak years should be feeling fairly chuffed right now as more feint-hearted investors are coming back to the asset class. Martin Currie Investment Management’s Kim Catechis says that order has been restored. The three big questions investors have, the Edinburgh-based…

(pictured: Seth Merrin) Australian fund managers better get ready: MIFID II is likely to have an impact. Even if it doesn’t directly, managers’ super fund clients will be wanting to reap the benefits of the regulation’s requirements that separate the payment for research from the payment for investment transactions. It has been a long time…

(pictured: Paula Arthus) Incorrect standing settlement instructions account for 20 per cent of all trade fails, according to research commissioned by the industry-owned DTCC (Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. And it’s, usually, human error. The research, undertaken by TABB Group, found that the failed trades amounted to significant operations costs and risk exposures for fund managers…