(Lounarda David … ramifications of insourcing) Lounarda David has worked with all the big names of Australia’s securities services industry and with a lot of the big global names. Â She set up Mercer Sentinel in Australia and New Zealand, and then expanded it into Asia. She became a regional director with global responsibilities and a…
(Pictured:Â Graeme Mather) Not many MySuper default options offered by both retail and not-for-profit super funds have sought to tailor the strategies to the needs of different groups of members. An analysis by Mercer shows only 15 of the 82 approved MySuper options have introduced lifecycle attributes to the funds. Retail and industry funds also took…
(Pictured:Â John Seo) In the search for genuinely uncorrelated assets, especially those with a coupon attached, catastrophe bonds are attracting more interest from Australian super funds and other defined contribution funds, alongside the instruments’ traditional customers among insurance companies and defined benefit pension funds. Of the top 20 pension funds in the world, consisting of a…
(Pictured:Â Mike Davis) Ignis Asset Management, a diversified UK manager with a strong capability in alternative fixed income strategies and liability driven investments, is entering the Australian market via a third-party arrangement with Tyndall Asset Management. For Tyndall, the deal rounds out its debt offerings and sets up its growing range of strategies, thanks to parent…
New York State’s financial services regulator is investigating asset consultants to its public pension funds. The regulator has subpoenaed 20 firms, including the biggest names in global asset consulting, for information on their processes. While details of the investigation are sketchy, there is concern that it may damage the reputation of the consulting firms and…
(Pictured:Â Steve Gibbs) Steve Gibbs, the former chief executive of what is now Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, who has been consulting in various ESG roles in recent years, has been contracted as an advisor to Eaton Vance Management and associated managers. Nicholas Allen, Eaton Vance’s Australian head, said the role was broader than just ESG. “Steve will…
(Pictured:Â John Wilson) The $7.7 billion Queensland-based local government fund LGsuper has restructured its board along the lines of the new Government’s proposed 3+3+3 system, appointing three independent directors ahead of the independent chair’s retirement in the second half of next year. LGsuper is one of Australia’s oldest funds – going for nearly 50 years –…
Remember “endowment envy”? Perhaps endowments are showing signs of “average Mercer balanced fund envy”. The latest annual survey of US endowments shows, at last, a shift away from alternatives and towards listed US and international equities. For many years, the big US endowments had consistently higher returns than their pension fund counterparts. They also led…
(Pictured:Â Tony Klim) Despite the expansion of several Australian technology companies in Europe and elsewhere in recent years, only two are ranked in the world’s top 100 tech vendors to financial services companies, according to the long-running ranking by American Banker magazine and researcher Financial Insights. Bravura Solutions, which has made the top 100 for seven…
Ian Knox… ‘I wanted to input my own sense of values’ Ian Knox surprised his friends and colleagues when he decided to launch his own business in 2004. He had had a series of senior roles at large financial services companies – Lend Lease, Westpac and St George – before linking up with Charlie Haynes…
