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(pictured: Craig Russ)  In uncertain times, such as these, investors have traditionally turned to the fixed interest market for their downside protection. But this time it really might be different. In the ‘new normal’ of low-to-zero-to-negative interest rates, investors may well be better off in the floating-rate debt market than taking on increasing duration –…

(pictured: Hugh MacNally)  Income and capital preservation are two of the main aims of many investors, especially retirees, but in recent months, with the drop-off in performance of the banks, investors are being prompted to seek out new core stocks for their portfolios. According to Hugh MacNally, founder and chairman of Private Portfolio Managers (PPM),…

(pictured: Grahame Evans) DomaCom, the innovative property fund manager, which recently hit the headlines through a crowd-funding plan to buy the famous Kidman agricultural holdings, is looking to raise at least $10 million through an IPO for its own business. DomaCom has lodged its prospectus with ASIC and the offer has been underwritten for about half of the…

(pictured: Daniel von Preyss) Renewable energy strikes a chord with institutional investors around the world, especially those in commodities-orientated countries like Australia. The questions, though, are not so much about ‘why’ but are rather: ‘how’, ‘how much’, ‘where’ and ‘when’. Daniel von Preyss of Impax Asset Management believes he has the answers. The managing director in…

(pictured: Patrick Colle) BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP) has rolled out a responsible investment tool, tapping into a burgeoning demand for the service from global institutional investors. The new ESG (environmental, social and governance) Risk Analytics system analyses up to 750 data points for every company in its database, BNP said in a release last week….

(pictured: Graham Harman) Russell Investments has adopted an after-Brexit stay-in-bed policy, according to the group’s latest quarterly market outlook.  Russell cautions investors against buying into the recent Brexit-related dip in markets, given the over-arching fundamentals globally. The Russell report says share prices would have to experience “substantial moves” up or down before the global multi-manager executed…

(pictured: David Orford) Financial Synergy, arguably the leading superannuation systems company in Australia, is for sale. David Orford, who founded the firm in Melbourne in 1978 as an actuarial business, has appointed an investment bank to advise on a possible transaction. While, in theory, the possible sale of Financial Synergy should not impact on the proposed…

(pictured: Gerald Stack) by David Chaplin Listed infrastructure is currently trading at a 15-30 per cent discount to comparable unlisted assets, according to Magellan global head of infrastructure, Gerald Stack. It’s suffering from too much money but there is a disconnect between listed and unlisted assets. Stack said that while academic theory suggests listed infrastructure should…

(pictured: Celine Kabashima (r) with Suzanne Tavill, Victoria Shelton and Sam Mann) Gender and other biases represent a problem for the fund management industry, especially among alternatives managers, according to participants on both sides of an industry debate last week. The debate, before an audience of about 80 fund management professionals, was produced by CFA Society…

(pictured: Andrew Balls) One of the signals from Brexit, the adverse effects of which PIMCO believes will mainly be contained within the UK for the time being, may well be that Donald Trump could, conceivably, become president of the US and global markets would likely react negatively. In a summary of its latest thoughts, published last…