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(Pictured: Robert Buckland) The outlook for global markets is still positive, but patchy, according to Citi’s latest strategic outlook, presented at its annual clients conference in Sydney last week. Robert Buckland, global equity strategist, said the rally of the past 12 months had been more about pricing out the bad news than pricing in any good…

John Coombe: you need clarity around the consultant’s role John Coombe is the last of the originals at JANA Investment Advisers.  He and his former colleagues, John Nolan and Ken Marshman, worked together at Victoria’s State Electricity Commission finance department in the 1980s.  While the others have moved on to other things – Nolan selling…

(Pictured: David Braga) David Braga, a managing director and head of product for JP Morgan, will become the new chair of the Australian Custodial Services Association, following the retirement from the position of Pierre Jond, the head of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Australia. As previously announced, Jond is to return to Paris at the end…

(Pictured: James McGeehan) QIC has added its weight to growing concerns, around the world, about returns leakages due to sloppy foreign exchange transacting. QIC held roundtables last week promoting closer oversight and monitoring by super funds. With the help of FX Transparency, a US-based specialist FX consulting firm, QIC presented to super funds in Sydney and…

(Pictured: Shawn Bookin) The question of credit, for super funds’ asset allocation during the current cycle, seems to be a question of ‘how much’ rather than whether they are ‘in or out’. Many investors utilize bonds as a low-risk strategy in their portfolio. In an environment where the benchmark index is heavily concentrated in low-yielding government…

(Pictured: Henry Capra) Henry Capra, an investment operations specialist who was most recently the chief operating officer at BlackRock, has been appointed local head of custody and fund services at JP Morgan. Capra has joined JP Morgan Investor Services in Sydney following the promotion of Australian-based custody and fund services head, Mark Kelley, to a regional…

(Pictured: Bruce Jenkyn-Jones) A double trend to thematic investing at the asset allocation level and ESG investing throughout portfolios augurs well for Impax Asset Management as it looks to promote its “global resource optimization” strategies in Australia. NSW’s Local Government Super is an early adopter. Bruce Jenkyn-Jones, Impax’s London-based managing director of listed equities, which accounts…

In a clever move on behalf of three of its smaller funds, Queensland-based administrator IFAA has put together a A$1.8 billion group tender for custody and administration, won by State Street. The funds are Mercy Super (formerly Sisters of Mercy), Club Super Queensland and QIEC Super, all acting with advice from JANA Investment Advisers. While…

(Pictured: Damien Barry) Super funds and pension funds in the Asia Pacific region should not think that the various government “fund passport” initiatives – of which there are now several – are just of interest to fund managers. They matter for asset owners too. Damien Barry, the Hong Kong-based senior VP and head of offshore fund…

(Pictured: David Neal (from aiCIO)) David Neal, the CIO of the Future Fund, is the second-most influential fiduciary investor in the world, according to a report by US publisher Asset International. And there are three other Australians in the global top 100 CIOs. The other Australians are: John Pearce, of UniSuper, at number 31, Mark Delaney of AustralianSuper at 43,…