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(pictured: Len Brennan) Russell Investments senior management have taken “a meaningful equity stake” in the business alongside new owners TA Associates and Reverence Capital Partners, cementing the ongoing leadership in the new arrangement. The two US private equity firms picked up Russell Investments from the London Stock Exchange for US$1.15 billion last October after fending off…

(pictured: David Goodacre) RBC Investor & Treasury Services has recruited experienced salesperson David Goodacre into the new position of director of global client coverage. He left BNP Paribas Securities Services in April after 12 years with that firm. Goodacre, who was most recently sales manager, Australia and New Zealand, at BNP will be working with former…

The smart beta trend has hit warp speed, according to new research from index provider FTSE Russell, with interest from global institutional investors up more than 60 per cent over the past year. More than 70 per cent of asset owners are either “using or actively evaluating smart beta” the 2016 FTSE Russell smart beta…

(pictured: Daniel Celeghin) By Greg Bright For future fee revenue for fund managers operating in the Asia Pacific region only one country matters – China. While Australia accounts for 16 per cent of the regional market it will pay only 10 per cent of the fees. But there are bright spots for certain managers. According to…

(pictured: Fiona Trafford-Walker) The biggest challenge facing traditional asset consultants is the internalisation of investment management by big funds and the provision of advice inside the funds, according to Fiona Trafford-Walker, the director of consulting at Frontier Advisers. At the same time, the work of those consultants was getting broader. She addressed the Women in Super…

(pictured: Ronan Walsh)  Ronan Walsh, the general manager of investments at REST Industry Super, left the fund suddenly last Thursday after less than six months in the job. A search is underway for a replacement. Walsh joined the $37 billion fund on December 7 after a six-month search, replacing the former general manager investments, Jo…

(pictured: Chris Redman) Investors have historically paid too much to access illiquid assets, a new study by global asset consultancy Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has found. And the liquidity premium varies considerably over time. In a just-published research paper, WTW says – based on its bespoke measure – the illiquidity risk premium (IRP) has been below…

(pictured: Aongus O’Gorman) Investment consultant Willis Towers Watson has downgraded its investment outlook for the year ahead and is advising clients to add some alternative assets with genuine diversification characteristics to their portfolios. Speakers at last week’s WTW Ideas Exchange in Sydney this month acknowledged that investors might be sceptical about some of the alternatives on…

(pictured: Stefan Azzopardi) Southern Cross Health Society has gone down the multi-management route for about 20 per cent of its approximately NZ$500 million (A$466 million) investment portfolio following a deal with Russell Investments. Stefan Azzopardi, Southern Cross head of finance, risk and compliance, said Russell Investments would manage about NZ$100 million (A$93 million) placed across three…

(pictured: Ian Dunbar) Small companies offering innovative fintech solutions find it very difficult dealing with big super funds, according to Ian Dunbar, Afiniation co-founder and SuiteBox Australia chief executive. He told a fintech conference organised by FIS, the global banking and payments technology company which last year acquired SunGard, in Sydney last week that small companies…