(Pictured:Â Craig Mowll) Certitude Global Investments has appointed BNP Paribas Securities Services as custodian and administrator for 14 unit trusts. The trusts have about $1 billion in assets under management. Certitude is an independent global fund-of-funds manager. Some of its underlying managers include Threadneedle Investments (UK), Lighthouse Partners (US), Marshall Wace Gavekal Asia-Pacific (Hong Kong) and…
(Pictured: Ben Griffiths) Institutional investors should revisit their approach to constructing equity portfolios in order to take advantage of innovations in the industry, according to a report in Towers Watson’s new publication: Equity investing: Insights into a better portfolio. The report notes that investors have been diversifying away from equities in recent years, yet insists that…
(Pictured: Joe Antonellis) Official institutions are looking to new markets and a broader range of assets as they search for greater returns, according to a new report by State Street, called ‘New Horizons for Official Institutions’. More than 60 senior executives at official institutions – defined as central banks, sovereign wealth funds (SWF) and public pension…
(Pictured:Â Andrew Formica) Henderson Global Investors, the UK and Australian-listed manager which was owned by AMP for a few years, will hold its first-ever annual general meeting in Australia this Thursday. Australian institutions constitute five of the top six shareholders, after staff. Like most European-based global managers, Henderson had a rough time through the GFC but…
(Pictured: Katrina King) QIC has produced a research note to support expanding the range of fixed interest investments, including long/short strategies, as a way to mitigate against the adverse effects of a rising interest rate environment. Katrina King, director of “global liquid strategies”,research and strategy, at QIC, which includes traditional sovereign bond investing with credit…
(Pictured:Michael Jackett-Simpson) Transition management has been through a tough time, with several of the global players pulling out of the business in the past 12 months. Super funds shouldn’t worry, though. The survivors are actually expanding their offerings, according to veteran Michael Jackett-Simpson. Increased transparency has become a generic theme in investment management but it…
(Pictured: Peter Baker) The amounts of money securities servicing firms – mainly divisions of big banks – spend on technology is mindboggling. BNP Paribas Securities Services, for instance, spent A$150 million in Australia alone in the past three years. So, what do clients get for this? According to Peter Baker, the Australia and NZ head…
(Pictured: Annie Gurton) The global accounting information firm CCH grew frustrated at clients’ reticence to adopt new and better systems, even when shown they would save money and improve efficiency. So, the firm commissioned an industrial psychologist to find out why. Her observations are applicable across most industries, including superannuation. Annie Gurton, a psychological therapist…
(Pictured: Fergal McGuinness)Â A study by the Stanford Center on Longevity and Mercer in the US has shown that various psychological tricks, such as showing someone a digitalized photo of themselves as an older person, can improve savings rates. Researchers associated with the Stanford Center have been looking at ways to strengthen the “emotional connection”…
McKinsey & Co has produced a bullish report on private equity off the back of new research indicating returns may have been better than previously stated. But, the consultants warn, it will be more difficult to pick the best managers in the future as their track records will count for less. The report published last…
