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(Pictured: Denis Carroll) UK-based risk consultancy CheckRisk is close to signing up its first Australian superannuation fund for its total risk monitoring system (TRMS) risk tool. “We’re in discussions with some very major super funds about using some of the tools that we have,” Australian chief executive officer of the company, Denis Carroll, said. “Sadly people…

(Pictured: Joseph Sheeran) Retail investors are expected to drive an increase in alternative fund assets under management over the next six to seven years, according to Joseph Sheeran, PricewaterhouseCoopers assurance partner. Global alternative fund assets are forecast to rise faster than almost any other asset class, according to PricewaterhouseCooper’s Asset Management 2020: A Brave New World…

(Pictured: Matthew Chan) Post trade processes in the Asia Pacific region are in dire need of improvement, according to a study commissioned by global transactions systems company Omgeo. The study, one of the most comprehensive on practices in the region to date, was conducted for DTCC-owned Omgeo by Insight Asia Banking & Finance Consulting.  Omgeo director, enterprise and…

(Pictured: Scott Mather) Japan and Australia are countries to watch as the global economy heads towards a “new neutral” with real interest rates generally around zero. But opportunities for bond investors will occur as individual countries react differently to policy challenges. Japan, in particular, has embarked on an “experiment” with both fiscal and monetary policy and…

Don Sharp… ‘obstacles to managed accounts growth being removed’ At an age when most of his friends and associates are playing golf, cruising and looking after grandchildren, financial services stalwart Don Sharp, a veteran of planning dealer groups in Australia, is helping to build another business. Leng Ohlsson writes: Successfully executing an IPO is a…

(Pictured: Michael Gordon) Perpetual Investments is incubating a global share strategy, which is expected to be considered when its arrangement with Wellington Management Company for international shares comes up for review at the end of this year. For two years now, four investment analysts within the team that look after the Global Resources Fund, launched in…

(Pictured: Matt Christensen) Australian developments in the social impact investing space are drawing the attention of global investors. Matt Christensen, global head of responsible investment at AXA Investment Management, in Australia recently to speak at the GTQ Investing in Responsibility Conference, said the Australian social benefit bonds were on a watch list of around 10 similar…

(Pictured: Martin Donnelly) Global advisory and capital placement firm FIRSTavenue has opened an office in Sydney and appointed Martin Donnelly as partner and head of the local operation. Donnelly joined FIRSTavenue from Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, where he was managing director of the hedge fund solutions group Australia. He is still listed as such on the…

(Pictured: Olivia Engel) State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) won one of its first major mandates for its Global Managed Volatility Alpha strategy during the week – a $115 million mandate from the IOOF MultiMix multi-managed superannuation funds – but what is interesting about the strategy is that it tailors its global offering depending on the country…

(Pictured: John Pearce) UniSuper, the fund for higher education professionals and staff, is looking to boost its range of sector specific options to ten, with a credit option, but chief investment officer, John Pearce, says its unlikely they will offer more options than that anytime soon. “If you focus on just a small range of options…