(Pictured:Â 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:Â 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:Â 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:Â 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’…
by Phil Miall Head of Credit Research & Strategy, QIC The traumas of 2008/09 were the ‘never again’ moment for a generation of policymakers and regulators. A near-catastrophe once in a lifetime is enough. Preventing a repeat is the priority. Â Monetary policy has been lent on as the principle tool of macroeconomic stabilisation, with…
(Pictured: Alison Wallis) The Melbourne-based Catholic Superannuation Fund has seeded an Australian-domiciled US micro-cap fund launched by local investment advisory firm Brookvine and US micro and small-cap manager Thomson Horstmann & Bryant (THB). A research note by Brookvine illustrates the unique nature of US micro-caps. The CSF has invested $90 million in the new fund….
(Pictured:Â Richard Johnston) It wouldn’t be a hedge fund conference without a discussion about fees … and the AIMA Australia Hedge Fund Forum last week did not disappoint. One positive suggestion was: perhaps super funds should look to trade off lock-ups for lower fees. Richard Johnston, the managing director of alternatives consultant Albourne Partners (Asia), which…
