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(Pictured: Anne Richards) by Greg Bright Anne Richards, the global CIO of Aberdeen Asset Management, is nothing if not versatile. Last week she spoke at the Women on Boards annual ‘diversity’ index launch in Sydney to a wide media audience, and then two days later presented on trends in retirement incomes at the CMSF conference on…

(Pictured: Tim Hodgson) by Greg Bright The Towers Watson-sponsored Thinking Ahead Institute, launched last year and currently supported by 30 fiduciary investors and fund management groups, has completed a draft of its first research paper, ambitiously entitled ‘The State of the Industry’. When the final version is published to the industry as a whole this year,…

(Pictured: Sam Mann) Franklin Templeton Solutions, which incorporates K2 Advisors, the hedge fund-of-funds business, has added an experienced asset consultant to its team, reflecting the evolution of the leaders among these firms since the global financial crisis. They are now focused on multi-asset, outcome-oriented strategies and bespoke portfolios. Felicity Walsh has joined Franklin Templeton after 11…

(Pictured: Bev Durston and David Wright) By Greg Bright Investors and fund managers have had a big rethink about their strategies and business models in the past seven years. No group has been more affected by the global financial crisis than alternatives managers, especially in Australia. This report, based on a roundtable hosted by MST Capital,…

by Katrina King, Director, Research & Strategy – Global Liquid Strategies (QIC) In an environment where economists are divided over the future outlook for the Australian economy, institutional investors should consider increasing their portfolio’s weighting to active strategies where portfolios can be focused on opportunities to deliver strong returns over the next five years.  That…

(Pictured: Jessica Donohue)  The field of data and analytics has become one of the top priorities for both fund managers and asset owners, according to a major survey by State Street. And diversification into new asset classes, coupled with the rise of multi-asset investing, is a key driver, especially for the asset owners. The State…

(Pictured: Daryl Crich) Super fund trustees and executives appear to be getting a bit stroppy about the amount of regulation by which they are governed, which, they mostly believe, will become more onerous over the next 10 years, according to a survey conducted jointly by Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and custodian BNP Paribas Securities Services….

(Pictured: Craig Stanford)  AIMA Australia, the alternative investment managers’ group, is to expand its education committee under new committee chair, Craig Stanford, the head of alternative investments at Ibbotson Associates. Stanford, who is also an AIMA executive committee member, said last week that the education committee would be looking initially to apply CPD points for…

(Pictured: David Simons)  The Future Fund won’t peak in size until 2030 if the Government draws down the maximum it is permitted under the organisation’s specific legislation, but is already managing its liabilities and has set up a strategy unit devoted to the task. Nevertheless, the Future Fund remains the poster child for Australia’s struggling…

(Pictured: Tim Sims) For the first time, in 2014, investment in Australian private equity by sovereign wealth funds around the world and other big overseas investors outpaced that by Australian investors, according to Yasser El-Ansary, the chief executive of Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCAL). But, at the same time, the performance of Australian…