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(pictured: Danielle Press)  When Danielle Press resigned from the chief executive spot at Equip Super – on International Women’s Day, a day on which she also started at the fund six years earlier – she was greeted by Martyn Myer as “having a natural warmth and generosity of spirit”. That was on show at the…

(pictured: Matt Malloy) One of the few pockets of growth for institutional fund managers over the last few years has been in the insurance market. Big insurance companies are increasingly outsourcing part or all of their investment management. According to Neuberger Berman, one of the biggest managers with a specialist offering for insurance companies, only about…

(pictured: John Streur) Eaton Vance Corp announced last week its intention to acquire Calvert Investment Management, one of the oldest and largest specialist ESG managers in the US. To be renamed Calvert Research and Management, the firm will come under the Eaton Vance affiliate umbrella whereby managers operate with a lot of autonomy but with some…

(pictured: Chris Mittleman) Fund manager and distributor Brookvine is bringing the Mittleman Brothers global value equity fund to Australia, initially for the institutional market. The fund is billed as “like private equity only better”. Chris Mittleman, who is CIO and a managing partner, co-founded the unusual global investment firm with his brother Phil in 2003. They…

(pictured: David Orford) The ACCC this month signalled that it may oppose the purchase of the NSW Government’s Pillar super admin business by Link Group. In an analysis piece last week, Investor Strategy News expressed the view that the industry would be better off if Link was able to bid. David Orford* begs to differ. Orford…

(pictured: Adrian Orr) In a “significant and fundamental shift” in strategy, the NZ$31 billion (A$29 billion) New Zealand Superannuation Fund is to implement a four-part plan to cut the fund’s exposure to both fossil fuel reserves and carbon emissions. Adrian Orr, the fund’s chief executive, said last week that climate change was a material investment issue…

(pictured: Peter Gunthorp) Smart beta investors are increasingly looking for more sophisticated multi-factor solutions and across a range of asset classes, according to a new FTSE Russell report. Published this month, the FTSE Russell ‘Evolution of Factor Investing’ paper says the top two concerns among institutional investors were how to select the best smart beta strategies…

(pictured: Scott Berg) In a “weird and volatile world” equity investors still need to focus on traditional signals, T. Rowe Price global portfolio manager Scott Berg said last week on a brief tour of New Zealand with local fund partner Harbour Asset Management. Australian-born Berg said share investors should “thoughtfully look through” the current meta-noise to…

(pictured: Rod Sims) Analysis by Greg Bright It’s not just the Link Group’s board and management that are displeased at the ACCC interim view on the proposed Pillar purchase, announced last Thursday. The NSW Government, too, along with Pillar staff, may well be the biggest losers. The final date for bids has been pushed back a…

(pictured: Lukas Daalder) Robeco’s five-year expected returns report – a well-regarded annual outlook for markets and investment opportunities – which this year came to 120 pages – is not a light read. The latest report, published last week, with a world full of uncertainty, was particularly dark. Lukas Daalder, The Netherlands-based Robeco executive director and CIO…