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(pictured: Tom Garcia)  The big topic of “capital stewardship”, as a kind-of overlay for responsible investing and ESG that have been embraced by super funds and other fiduciaries, was a key theme at last week’s AIST Australian Superannuation Investment annual conference in Cairns. Tom Garcia, AIST chief executive, said the 430 capped-attendance to what is…

(pictured: Michael Dwyer)  The two companies are for sale – one by the NSW Government and the other by its founder. They are engaged in a big tech-heavy project for a high-profile super fund. But the project has not gone to plan. Oh no, not again. The $55 billion First State Super has been advising…

(pictured: Steven Munchenberg) Steven Munchenberg, well-connected lobbyist and chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association, is not worried about Kate Carnell’s recently announced review into banking for small business. But continued talk of a royal commission into banking is a worry. He participated in a webinar last week organised by Stewart Oldfield of Field Research, a…

The investment world loves its acronyms, even though, as the old gag goes, we should try to avoid TLAs (three-letter acronyms). Here’s a new one: the MAC, which stands for multi-asset credit. It’s a potential new path in the search for yield. A client research note from global manager Eaton Vance Investment Managers – ‘Accessing…

(pictured: Steven Kempler) by David Chaplin Infrastructure is still finding its place in institutional portfolios with a wide disparity in allocations reflecting the novelty of the asset class, a new study has found. Strategic asset allocations vary significantly. According to ‘The Role of Infrastructure in a Portfolio’ research paper published last week by equities specialist Maple-Brown…

(pictured: James McSkimming) James McSkimming, long-standing Russell Investments researcher has left the firm and believed to be headed to a competitor. He was most recently Russell’s head of Australian equities research, a position which chief executive Peter Gunning says will be filled. Before that he was a senior research analyst at the firm, making a total…

(pictured: Jack Inglis and Paul Chadwick)  The annual AIMA Australia Forum, to be held tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Sofitel Wentworth Sydney, and the Hedge Funds Rock and Australian Hedge Fund Awards dinner, at Sydney’s Ivy Ballroom this Thursday, both look like setting attendance records. The AIMA Forum is expected to break last year’s record of…

by David Chaplin Vanguard’s mooted ‘cluster-free’ investment product could appeal to both Australian and New Zealand investors, according to the fund manager’s head of market strategy and communications in Australia, Robin Bowerman. Bowerman said last week that Vanguard was working with its NZ KiwiSaver clients to develop an “acceptable” passive global shares solution that excluded…

(pictured: Laurent Bourlard) AXA Investment Managers has signalled its intention to be a part of the search for workable retirement solutions for the members of the not-for-profit super funds. It is looking at ways to incorporate some of the funds’ existing strategies and managers in its own design thinking. Craig Hurt, AXA IM’s director, Australia and…

(pictured: Mike Schneider) A common lament among investors is ‘where to invest’ for growth if equities are fully priced and interest rates are low-to-negative. According to a paper by Artisan Partners, companies which combine technological advances with traditional industrial characteristics of quality are a good place to look. In Australia to speak at a Conexus conference…