(Pictured:Â Peter Costello) by Penny Pryor As a shaky bipartisanship on some kind of reform to superannuation concessions takes place in Canberra, the measure that many believe has the highest chance of getting up, are the changes to the taper rate at which retired Australians can get access to some form of the part-pension. Minister for…
(Pictured: Brian Gaynor)Â Research houses are holding fire on Milford Asset Management following the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) decision to suspend its local equities mandate early this month. In the wake of the NZS move, which saw it temporarily re-house the NZ$281 million Milford mandate internally, Australian-based researcher Morningstar said its ratings of the…
(Pictured:Â Randal Williams) Big Chinese investors, such as the clients of the Sino-global law firm of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), are diversifying their Australian investments away from resources and into new growth areas, according to a symposium organised by La Trobe Financial last week in Shanghai and Beijing. Those new growth areas for Chinese investments…
(Pictured:Â Andrea West) Chant West has secured insurance group AIA Australia as its major sponsor for the third annual Chant West Super Fund Awards, to be held at a black-tie dinner at Sydney’s Ivy Ballroom on May 6. Chant West director, Andrea West, says: “AIA Australia is one of the country’s leading life insurers. They have…
(Pictured:Â George Carter) AMP Capital has delayed the handover of its NZ equities mandate to Salt Funds Management by up to a month. George Carter, AMP Capital NZ head of distribution, said transition of NZ$690 million-odd portfolio, originally scheduled for March 31, has been put back as the fund manager deals with “a few internal things”….
(Pictured: Louise Davidson)Â Louise Davidson, the ESG investment manager at Cbus, has been appointed chief executive of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, a position made vacant by the resignation of Gordon Hagart in February after 18 months in the role. Davidson had been at Cbus since 2009. ACSI has 31 Australian super funds members,…
(Pictured:Â Takahiro Mitani) by Penny Pryor The Japan Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the largest pension fund in the world at 137 trillion yen as at December 2014 ($1.4 trillion) has begun the process of investing more in equities and international bonds, away from Japanese Government Bonds, with the appointment of transition managers earlier this month….
(Pictured:Â Charles Wu) by Greg Bright Media Super has lost its last professional investment manager, Charles Wu, and has advertised for a replacement. The troubled fund, which is known to have been canvassing merger possibilities, last year made its CIO position, then held by Dr Jon Glass, redundant. Wu, a former asset consultant at Mercer, was…
(Pictured:Â Ian Dunbar) Sophisticated investors aged 60 and over are among the fastest growing adopters of ‘robo’ advice globally and Australia’s self-managed superannuation fund market will be the next frontier for automated advice of various types, according to a report by financial services consultancy FinDigital and robo advice newcomer Ignition Wealth. The ‘2015 Automated Investment Advisors…
(Pictured:Â Stephen Karrasch) by Greg Bright Findex Group, which now has $15 billion under management and administration from the retail sector, has recruited two big names to oversee its investments, following the insourcing of advice and admin from Philo Capital. Philo’s Stephen Karrasch has landed at Aurora Funds as the new head of distribution. It’s an…
