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(Pictured: Susan Dietz-Henderson) With the China question – a big multi-facetted question facing all Australian investors – you have to look at the long term. Perhaps more than any other question facing investors. That’s what US-based global manager Capital Group is doing with its research effort. Susan Dietz-Henderson, the former Australian diplomat who is the China…

 (Pictured: Darrell Ludowyke) Thanks to the internet and some fundamental changes to the way people communicate, the database business – forever the poor cousin of sales and marketing – is finally gaining acceptance as an area to invest serious capital. Darrell Ludowyke, a database veteran, says the business is moving away from being part of the…

(Pictured: Margo Lydon) A landmark study by IFS Insurance Solutions in association with SuperFriend, the workplace mental health group, has provided the first comprehensive details of the aggregate costs to big super funds and their insurers associated with mental health issues, such as deaths by suicide and TPD and other insurance claims. The study, called SuperMIND…

(Pictured: Warren Chant) The super fund awards business seems to deliver as much intrigue as the industry as a whole. In the latest twist, one of the two new fund awards organisers, research firm Chant West, announced Friday it had split from its partner, Conexus Financial, for next year’s awards. Principals Warren Chant and Andrea West…

(Pictured: Peter Tiffin and Johnathan Thurston) Two fund management industry identities, Perpetual Investments group executive Michael Gordon and Ambassador Funds Management Services director Peter Tiffin, have come together to help raise awareness of bowel cancer, the second biggest cause of cancer deaths in Australia. Both suffered from the disease last year and have recovered from…

UniSuper’s John Pearce… ‘when you are dealing with people’s life savings, they would prefer you to be prudent rather than clever’ After five years as chief investment officer of UniSuper, John Pearce describes it as “the best job I’ve ever had.” That may partly reflect the fact that Pearce’s investment beliefs look to offer a…

(Pictured: David Hartley) by Greg Bright Sunsuper has lifted the pace in building its in-house investment capabilities, with the recent recruitment of five investment professionals. David Hartley, the CIO, said: “It’s all about getting closer to our assets”. The $30 billion fund is building a middle-and-back office capability through improved risk reporting, mandate monitoring and securities…

(Pictured: Lorraine Berends) Marvin & Palmer Associates, the global equities manager, will close its Australian office at the end of September after 14 years. Lorraine Berends, who has headed the office since inception, said the closure was part of a firm-wide round of cost-cutting which reflected the shifting demands of institutional investors. As a long-only…

(Pictured: Ged Fitzpatrick) The strong US trend to liquid alternatives for the retail market, which is showing signs of blossoming in Australia, has attracted the attention of ASIC, the AIMA Australia Hedge Fund Forum was told last week. The annual forum, which had a record attendee roll-up of almost 300 – making it the largest investment…

(Pictured: Martin Scott) Global private equity specialist Partners Group has launched an Australian dollar unit trust for the platforms market with monthly liquidity and offering applications and redemptions prices at net asset value. The fund is based on a seven-year-old global fund which has more than 2,500 individual positions. It also contains a lot of ‘secondaries’…