Any time you get great valuations, “it’s always messy”. But the indiscriminate sell-off in growth small caps presents the best buying opportunity since 2008. “Historically, people think of small cap growth as the wrong place to be in a rising interest rate environment – and it is, when people first start to think about a…
The world’s most transparent sovereign wealth and pension funds have returned “disappointing results” as the drop in bond and stock prices finally kneecapped a decade of growth.
Until now, Japanese funds have largely been bond and cash investors. As they expand into real assets, Frontier wants to own that consulting niche.
Super funds are increasingly adding thematic passive products to their self-directed investment options as they face new competition from Gen Z focused start-ups – but the ultimate theme is still on the outs.
Australia’s super funds have been leaders in adopting private markets investing, but they’ve still got a long way to go. Overcoming the obsession with liquidity will be one hurdle, says the boss of $900 billion private markets manager Hamilton Lane.
Australian Retirement Trust (ART) and QIC are continuing the trend of big funds investing in affordable housing, working in conjunction with community housing provider Brisbane Housing Company.
A big chunk of super funds are now in “limp mode” as their buffer against the performance test evaporates. And sustainable investing is getting harder when even tobacco exclusions eat up the tracking error budget.
“These financial cleansings are really important to how you set up asset markets; they’re really important for how the Fed regains credibility; and they’re very important for curbing excessive risk-taking.”
Performance concerns for sustainable investing have risen to the fore as the Your Future Your Super (YFYS) test shortens investment horizons. The wider return outlook is more challenged too.
“In general, it is a healthy environment for hedge funds, with allocation from institutional investors expected to rise. As markets brace for uncertainty, investors expect hedge funds to offer positive returns while reducing portfolio risk.”
