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(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…

(Pictured: Lounarda David) Sunsuper has recruited Lounarda David, a former worldwide partner of Mercer and head of the Mercer Sentinel regional custody, transitions and implementation arm of the firm. She will be head of investment operations at Sunsuper – a new role. Reporting to Sunsuper CFO, Bruce Wilson, David had recently been doing some consulting work…

Towers Watson has made three new appointments to its Australian investment team, comprising two investment consultants and one investment analyst. This follows the five new appointments the firm announced in December last year. Graeme Miller, director of investment Services for Towers Watson in Australia said: “Our investment team is now bigger and better resourced than…

Joanna Davison… ‘FEAL has maintained a level of credibility’ Joanna Davison, the new chief executive of the Fund Executives Association Ltd has a lot of experience at senior levels in funds management, both in Australia and her native UK. But perhaps it’s her unusual qualification for a career in the city which may stand her…

(Pictured: Michael Kelly) By Greg Bright Past performance may not be much of a guide to future performance, however, you can learn a lot from the history of investment management strategies. Take asset allocation as an important example. Increasingly, since the global crisis, investors are looking at dynamic asset allocation (DAA) as a strategy for outcome-oriented…

(Pictured: Patrick Fanning) JP Morgan has closed down its transition management (TM) business in Australia, following the lead of its US and European colleagues who shuttered their operations last May. The Australian business, run by experienced TM manager Patrick Fanning, was given the extra time to support its local clients and discuss with them their likely…

(Pictured: Peter Cherecwich) Fund managers generally don’t like making major investments in technology and rebuilding their platforms. For most, this is not where they see their value-add for clients. More and more will be outsourcing middle-office functions in Australia, according to Peter Cherecwich. The Asia Pacific region has lagged Europe and the US in middle-office outsourcing,…

(Pictured: Timothy Schuler) While many hedge funds delivered on their promise, or close to it, during the global crisis, changes have been afoot to their strategies and processes since. Greater transparency and more backoffice resources to cope with regulatory changes and client demands have received most attention. However, there has been a more subtle change too….