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 (Pictured: Michael Leibrock) Cyber risk has now swamped new regulatory hurdles and the possibility of another US recession as the greatest risk facing global financial institutions, according to the latest risk survey by DTCC, the industry-owned post-trade financial infrastructure company. In the wake of several recent high-profile cyber attacks on major sectors of the global economy, starting…

 (Pictured: Gian Pandit) They used to be called ‘swing mandates’. Now they are ‘unconstrained’ and, usually, concentrated. AMP Capital has won another $175 million for its concentrated Australian equities strategy from Nikko Asset Management’s multi-manager portfolio. The win takes the portfolio managed by Gian Pandit, who launched the strategy when he joined AMP in late 2011,…

Mark Delaney… ‘didn’t someone say there are no more dangerous words in investment than ‘this time it’s different’?’ A couple of years into its ambitious push into internal management of its investments, AustralianSuper is well advanced in its aim to manage about a third of its assets in-house. But this progress hasn’t necessarily helped with…

(Pictured: Peter Baker)   Mercer is having another go at rebooting its Mercer Sentinel business with the surprising recruitment of Peter Baker, the head of securities services in Australia and New Zealand for BNP Paribas. The investment operations, custody consulting and transitions management subsidiary of Mercer has been without a permanent head for the past three…

 (Pictured: Tim Haywood) Alternative fixed interest strategies have been coming into their own over the past couple of years, notwithstanding a pick-up in yields earlier this year. The issue is how to differentiate between those strategies. Tim Haywood, investment director and business unit head for fixed income at GAM (Global Asset Management) says that many people…

 (Pictured: David Bryant) The party is over for SMSF investors, according to David Bryant. For the past 20 years the “three trick pony” of residential property, bank shares and term deposits has worked very well. But he believes it’s not going to work well for another three-four years, let alone 20, as those SMSF trustees move…

By Matthew Peter, Chief Economist and Jimmy Louca, Senior Economist, QIC Just a few years ago, the AUD marked itself as a new currency heavyweight by achieving and then surpassing parity with the greenback. They were great days for Australians travelling overseas and importers. But as the much (incorrectly) quoted line says, “The past is…

 (Pictured: Jim Ross) It’s taken a while, but the world’s largest ETF has finally listed in Australia. The bell was rung for the State Street Global Advisors SPYDR S&P 500 at the ASX in Sydney last week. It is the fifth US ETF to list in Australia. The ETF market, pioneered by SSgA in Australia…

 (Pictured: Charles Cock) BNP Paribas has won the securities servicing contract for the $7.6 billion Australian Unity portfolios as the custody industry continues to see the greatest activity in mandate changes that it has for years. It is understood that the pitch was hotly contested by State Street, which has had a string of wins itself…

(Pictured: Peter Costello) Peter Costello, former Treasurer and current chair of the Future Fund, warned last week’s annual SuperRatings and Lonsec conference – Day of Confrontation – that “all things will have to be justified” in future. “I wouldn’t even assume dividend imputation is a permanent feature,” he said. The conference was SuperRatings’ first in Sydney…