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(Pictured: Ding Xuedong) There is always a bit of excitement surrounding the publication of the China Investment Corporation annual report. The CIC, after all, is not the most transparent of organisations. It now oversees US$652 billion, almost two-thirds of which is invested outside China, primarily through external managers. Hence the excitement. Headline numbers for the report,…

(Pictured: John Brogden) The best speeches of politicians are often their last. They can afford to be reflective and, even, honest. John Brogden, the former NSW Liberal Party Leader, delivered his fifth and final speech to the Financial Services Council conference last Thursday, before his departure from the CEO role next January. In the speech,…

(Pictured: Peter Jordan) Northern Trust has expanded its Melbourne-based fund services role through the promotion of Peter Jordan to head up Asia Pacific, following the return of Camie West, the well-known Hong Kong-based executive, to Chicago head office. Jordan was appointed head of Australia and New Zealand for Northern’s global fund services unit earlier this year,…

Alternative investments will continue to represent the fastest-growing segment of the asset management industry worldwide, according to a report by McKinsey & Co published last week. The report, based on a survey of 300 institutional investors, expects alternatives to provide 40 per cent of the industry’s revenue but this will be generated from only 15…

‘I don’t see how financial planners, or anyone, can set investment strategies without forecasting returns’ – Tim Farrelly Institutional investors tend to have constraints on when they can, versus should, make significant changes to asset allocation – much more so than financial planners, according to Tim Farrelly, a veteran advisor to the advisors. But this…

(Pictured: Les Fallick and John Brakey) After gradually reducing his workload in recent years, Les Fallick, founder of Principle Advisory Services, has made his final break with the firm. This has coincided, though, with the recruitment of John Brakey, another experienced private equity manager. Ken Licence, Principle’s managing director and major shareholder, noted that Fallick, an…

(Pictured: Jennifer Bridwell) PIMCO’s alternatives area tends to fly under the radar compared with the bulk of the firm’s fixed interest business, but since 2008 it has become very active through a range of opportunistic debt-orientated strategies which have taken advantage of distressed situations. The world’s largest bond manager now has about US$25 billion in alternatives….

(Pictured: Cory Martin) BNP Paribas Investment Partners is offering Australian investors new access to a global value investor which is happy to be known as ‘the biggest fund manager you’ve never heard of’. Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss (BHMS) is a US$100 billion affiliate of Old Mutual which hails from Dallas, Texas. In Australia to promote…

(pictured: Rhys Octigan) The introduction of quarterly reporting of MySuper fund options by APRA from this month may bring with it some unwelcome trends. Fund managers need to be prepared to have their numbers discussed on talk-back radio, for example. But managers and super funds can also take advantage of the extra data they are now…

(Pictured: Jim McDonald) The five-year outlook for global capital markets, published By the Northern Trust group in Hong Kong early this morning (Monday) paints a reasonably benign picture for investors, but with expected changes in relative returns between asset classes and geographical markets. The annual report from the fund management and securities servicing group, entitled “Enduring…