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(Pictured: Michael Cole) After years of discussions, both formal and informal, the big three NSW Government funds have agreed to a three-way merger to create a $60 billion fiduciary fund for super and insurance. Michael Cole, the well-regarded former fund manager and business man, will be its chairman. NSW State Super (SAS Trustee Corporation – known…

(Pictured: Kerry Series) Kerry Series and key staff at Eight Investment Partners (8IP), the boutique small cap and Asian equities specialist, have bought back the firm from major shareholder Sanlam. Sanlam, a South African financial services firm, backed the establishment of 8IP by Kerry Series after earlier acquiring another Australian boutique, Atom Funds Management. Following the…

(Pictured: Paul Wells) La Trobe Financial, which is Australia’s largest and oldest privately owned mortgage lender and credit fund manager, has entered the RMBS market with a $102 million public raising. La Trobe* and its long-time banker, Commonwealth Bank, which is lead manager, have priced a capital markets residential mortgage-backed securities issuance covering 586 “near prime”…

(Pictured: Slim Feriani) Emerging and frontier markets have taken a caning in the past couple of years as their economies have dropped back a cog and investors appear concerned about the impact of the US Government’s tapering. For the brave, however, the climate presents many opportunities. Dr Slim Feriani, a former academic who is the chief…

 (Pictured: Tony Freeman) Omgeo, the global transactions systems company now owned by the US Government-owned DTCC, has appointed a new chief executive, Paula Arthus. The appointment is seen as a reflection of the evolution of Omgeo to become more of an industry utility. Omgeo was previously a joint venture between DTCC (the Depository Trust & Clearing…

Ben Thornley… ‘Many investors still have a black and white mindset’ With the introduction of ‘social bonds’ and a range of other initiatives backed by a combination of governments and private money, the notion of ‘impact investing’ is creating increasing interest among super funds in Australia and other big investors around the world. Ben Thornley,…

(Pictured: Gerard Noonan) Comment by Greg Bright Media Super has taken the unusual decision to do away with the role of chief investment officer, terminating Jon Glass after five years with the $3.5 billion fund. This has been done to save on costs. Graeme Russell, the chief executive, will now oversee investments with the support of…

(Pictured: Tim Unger) Institutional investors are expected to become more aggressive with their investments next year, according to their fund managers, as most equity markets remain positive and emerging markets provide for longer-term growth. The results of the annual survey of 128 global fund managers by Towers Watson, published last week, were complemented by the latest…

(Pictured: Larry Fink) Pension funds need to address the problem of longevity risk and increase their allocations to growth assets as well as an increasing range of alternatives, according to Larry Fink, the founder and chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager. Fink spoke last week at the UK National Association of Pension Fund…

(Pictured: Gary Bailey) Gary Bailey, head of institutional business for Fidelity International in Australia, has resigned and left after nearly five years with the firm. He said that he decided that he “really needed a change” and resigned at the end of January after returning from a month’s leave. His last day was February 28. Michael…