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(pictured: Guy Rundle) LGIAsuper, the $9.5 billion Queensland local government fund, has appointed Parametric to implement a tax-managed ‘centralised portfolio management’ (CPM) program over more than a third of its portfolio. The tax-managed CPM program involves assets of about $3.5 billion, and is expected to be implemented by the end of April. It is Parametric Australia’s…

(pictured: Jeff Middleswart) Australian investors mainly want to hear about US growth prospects when they talk to US-based global managers at the moment, according to Ranger International’s Jeff Middleswart, who was on one of his frequent visits to Australia last week. And while those prospects are still good, they do not look quite as bright…

The Australian exchange-traded product (ETP) market grew assets under management by over 40 per cent while product numbers were up almost a third in 2015, according to a new Morningstar report. ETPs include exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as well as less common listed product types that don’t fall under the fund category. The study says the…

(pictured: Jon Shaw) Moneysoft, an online money management and budgeting platform, is widening its marketing effort to include big super funds which are looking to enhance the member engagement tools on their websites. The fintech company launched to advisors in July 2014 after a soft launch two years earlier with consumers. It last week announced it…

The marketing function at asset management companies is moving from one of sales and distribution support to actively engaging clients and targeting investors, according to an international survey of digital marketing trends in funds management. The survey, by New York-based funds management marketing firm Kurtosys, which produces various online marketing tools, shows content marketing has…

(pictured: Raphael Arndt) by Greg Bright The Future Fund has been reducing its investment risk over the past 12 months, as has been well documented, once again dodging a bullet with the global equities market. Less obviously, the fund has also been looking to reduce its longer-term Anglo, western and, probably, male biases in the management…

(pictured: Paul Bouchey) There’s growing evidence that investors large and small are increasingly nervous about the short-medium-term future for both equities and bonds. For Australians, this nervousness probably extends to property, as well. So, what do they do about it? Tumbling oil prices and the slowing Chinese economy are said to have been the main causes…

(pictured: Mitch King) By Patrick Liddy Innovation is a tricky business. Even in times of hostility, lessons are hard to learn and the consequences can be dire. The American civil war, for example, saw the introduction of rapid-firing rifles to replace muskets. This, in turn, led to trench warfare. The trenches of the American civil war,…

(pictured: Stephen Mackley) Thanks largely to their big administrators and systems providers, super funds have a chance of catching up with the bank-owned retail platforms in the use of data analysis to aid member retention and acquisition. Financial Synergy, the systems provider whose 30 clients have a total of about four million members, is introducing the…

Investors relying on a traditional negative correlation between equities and bonds could face a shock in 2016, according to a new asset allocation analysis by global fixed income giant PIMCO. The PIMCO 2016 asset allocation outlook says investors relying on the traditional stock/bond counterbalance should beware if the year ahead features stagnant growth combined with…