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(Pictured: Stephen Huppert) Australia’s implemented consultants can add value in their manager selection, but, at the whole-fund level, this tends to be dissipated by poor asset allocation decisions, according to a new report from Deloitte Actuaries & Consultants. The report published last week, entitled ‘Beating Those Super Fees: Is Active Management Delivering?’, was based on a…

(Pictured: Simon Lindsay) The friendly deal between Aurora Funds and its largest shareholder, Keybridge Capital, opens new opportunities in retail funds management which have proved difficult for the smaller listed company to pursue. But it also reflects a trend away from alpha-seeking boutiques in the retail market. The arrangement, announced over the New Year’s break, will…

(Pictured: Guy Eliffe) AMP Capital has abandoned its New Zealand equities operation, making redundant the long-time head of NZ shares, Guy Eliffe, prior to handing over NZ$760 million (A$722 million) to a “third-party active equity manager”. In a client note dated December 19 last, AMP NZ said the move was prompted by “our views on the…

(Pictured: Scott Minerd) Investors who have sought out higher-yielding credit for their fixed income portfolios due to generally low interest rates need to be cautious about sentiment following the slump in oil prices. Spreads have widened as energy makes up 15 per cent of the high-yield corporate bond index. Guggenheim Partners, a global credit specialist, has…

(Pictured: James Leplaw) News Corporation has launched its foray into the SMSFs systems and advice market, with the Eureka Report’s ‘brightday’ service, developed in partnership with OneVue, going live last week. The service links a transaction platform with Eureka Report and other research. James Leplaw, Eureka Report publisher and brightday general manager, says the platform is…

In a rare action in the institutional investment world, Towers Watson is being sued by a former client for “negligent” advice relating to a currency hedge dating back to 2008. The advice was given by the former Watson Wyatt before it merged with the former Towers Perrin. The action has been taken in the UK,…

(Pictured: Don A. Steinbrugge) This year should be a good one for hedge fund managers. Surveys of investors in the past few months have been predicting bigger allocations to alternatives. But we’ve heard that before. The main reason this year will be good is that alpha is likely to have returned. According to Agecroft Partners, a…

(Pictured: Matt Whineray)  By Greg Bright New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the A$25.7 billion sovereign wealth fund, has staked a big claim in the Australian retirement market. It has bought, through a 50-per-cent-owned vehicle, the fourth-largest retirement village company – RetireAustralia. Australian super funds should take note. NZ Super has partnered with Infratil Ltd to pay…

(Pictured: Kenneth Froot) Forget uncertainty about China, Asia as a whole is propping up global investor confidence, according to the latest State Street Global Exchange investor confidence index. Europe is down significantly and the US is down a bit. But Asia is up. Kenneth Froot, the Harvard professor who works with State Street’s research arm, State…

(Pictured: Jason Hsu) The two big trends for fund managers in 2014 were smart beta and outcome-oriented investments. Hardly new concepts, but they struck a nerve with investors still a little shaken from the global financial crisis. Research Affiliates, which came up with the “fundamental index” that started the smart beta trend, has a word of…