While exclusionary strategies seem to be rising in popularity, super funds should think about how to create a “just transition, not just a transition.” “Divestment should always be the last port of call, not the first port of call,” says Andrew White, director – climate risk, financial services at global consultancy Baringa Partners. “It’s critically…
Boutique global equities house Redpoint has boosted its impact investing capabilities with two key appointments from the newly-merged Australian Retirement Trust (ART). Hunter Page and Chris Parks have joined Redpoint as portfolio managers as the boutique looks to provide a “distinct investment strategy to leverage the opportunities presenting from sustainable development and the global transition…
Leading sustainable investment manager Australian Ethical has recruited a number of industry veterans for its investment committee as it enters merger talks with Christian Super. Sean Henaghan, former CIO of AMP’s Multi-Asset Group and current CIO of Aurora Capital, will join Australian Ethical’s investment committee. Also joining are Sandra McCullagh, current non-executive director (NED) of…
A “dramatic and sobering” first quarter has seen institutions re-think everything from ESG to hedge funds as the job of investing becomes harder in a more dangerous world. Recent surveys of global institutions have unearthed an increasingly gloomy outlook from our biggest investors as they scrutinise the new inflation paradigm and a more multi-polar geopolitical…
A rising tide lifts all boats – but this one is starting to recede. After the post-Covid liquidity mania, the best of the best will have a chance to prove themselves once again. The world’s stock pickers have been in a rut these last few years. A phenomenal bull market has given them little chance…
More diverse organisations have consistently outperformed those that are less diverse. But neurodiversity is still largely an unknown quantity in many of them. The term “neurodiversity” was first coined by researcher Julie Singer in the late 90s, and popularized by journalist Harvey Bloom. It holds that there is simply “a diversity of human minds and…
Your Future Your Super (YFYS) will make super funds bigger and more risk averse – except when it doesn’t, according to a new report from J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM). The report, which follows J.P. Morgan’s inaugural survey of super fund executives, shows that CIOs are now adapting their investment strategies to the demands of…
Australia’s super funds are racing to achieve massive size in the understanding that it will create untold benefits for members. But “a little but of circumspection and caution” is required. “People seem to be taking it as a fact that you just need to be bigger, and that it’s obvious you need to be bigger…
While markets have so far shrugged off the inevitable rate rises, there’s plenty more to come – and the global outlook keeps getting gloomier. The Fed’s decision to unleash massive monetary stimulus in the early days of Covid-19 (and in nearly every economic crisis before it) ushered in a brief golden age for markets. But…
ASIC’s investigation into whether super funds took advantage of inside knowledge when switching investments in early 2020 has ended with the regulator taking no action. The drawn-out saga of ASIC’s investigation into alleged “insider trading” at super funds has come to a close, with the corporate regulator saying it will take no further action against…
