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(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…

(Pictured: Peter Hiom) Peter Hiom, the deputy chief executive of the ASX, has had only three jobs in his career, all exchanges, but he says it feels like he’s had 30. Stock and other exchanges around the world have arguably changed more, and more rapidly, than the corporate and financial markets they serve. He spoke with…

(Pictured: Scott Donald) With more than 200 big APRA-regulated super funds – both not-for-profit and commercial – diversity would appear to be another line of defence for the superannuation industry in the event of an unexpected shock. But new research has questioned the nature of that ‘diversity’ and the adequacy of regulatory engagement across the whole…

(Pictured: Susan Thorp) The average SMSF member is likely to be less “highly numerate” than the average member of a big super fund, but more financially numerate and more knowledgeable of the rules surrounding super. The SMSF trustee is also likely to be more trusting of financial services professionals, perhaps to the point of naivety. These…