(Pictured: Hugh Dougherty) Towers Watson is doing a global search to appoint a hedge fund expert to one of its Australian offices as part of an effort to have “a much higher level of engagement” with hedge funds on behalf of its clients, according to Hugh Dougherty, the firm’s head of manager research, Australia. Dougherty…
(Pictured: Rachel Botsman) It won’t be all good news for the super industry executives attending the SuperRatings conference and awards night in Melbourne on October 15. Rachel Botsman has some confronting views for funds and managers on the big new institutional risk of reputation. Botsman, billed as one of the world’s most sought-after speakers, says…
(Pictured: Andrew Dyson) Affiliated Managers Group should have a better view of our world than most other fund managers. It owns or has interests in 27 affiliated firms operating in either regional or global markets. And, according to Andrew Dyson, the global head of distribution, things are definitely looking up. Dyson, an executive vice president…
(Pictured: Paul Chadwick) There was some good news – the hedge fund industry is too small to pose a systemic risk – and some bad news – the prospect of a nuclear holocaust is greater than you think. But the best news was that Australia’s hedge fund industry, under the auspices of AIMA, put on…
(Pictured: Simon Ford) Simon Ford, head of alternative investments for ANZ Wealth and Private, delivered a few home truths to the faithful at the AIMA conference. He told them they needed to merge and keep merging until they got to at least $1 billion in assets under management. But in any case, 98 per cent…
(Pictured: Ken Marshman) Ken Marshman, the chair and head of investment outcomes at JANA Investment Advisers, who is due to retire from full-time consulting at the end of this month, has been awarded a major accolade as the “fifth most influential consultant in the world”. And another Australian, Frontier Advisors’ most senior investment person, Fiona…
(Pictured: David Chaplin) The first comprehensive study of the New Zealand financial advisory market demonstrates a massive concentration of ownership by AMP and four Australian banks, as AMP last week increased its lead with the purchase of another four financial planning practices. The study, “AFA Today – an Analysis of New Zealand’s Investment Adviser Market”,…
(Pictured: Martin Codina) A Tony Abbott victory on the weekend now means certain parts of the Future of Financial Advice reforms, which became compulsory on July 1 this year, are likely to be rolled back. The new treasurer in waiting, Joe Hockey, has made clear that his government will remove the opt-in condition, i.e. the…
By Penny Pryor All Australian funds moved up the size rankings in the latest annual survey of the world’s top 300 retirement plans, produced by publisher Pensions & Investments and consulting firm Towers Watson. Of the 15 Australian funds that appear on the list, five are in the top 100, with the Future Fund having…
(Pictured:Â Matt Christensen) There has been a strong trend to incorporate environmental, social and governance considerations in investment processes in the past 10 years. But what of the next 10 years and what are the trends within the trend? AXA Investment Managers has produced an interesting analysis. In a series of briefings, including participation at last…
