Big super’s long march toward the future will be fruitful. But adopting the Canadian Model of pension management means coming to grips with the dual questions of legitimacy and governance.
Labor can do little to change the past. But a win in May could usher in a new era of co-operation between big super and the government. There were no surprises in shadow finance minister Stephen Jones’ speech to the 2022 ASFA conference. There is little that Labor can outright promise the industry aside from…
AMP Capital is effectively no more, sold off to a menagerie of domestic and international managers. But the challenge of turning AMP around has barely begun. The wretched story of AMP’s attempts to spin off its asset management arm, AMP Capital, has perhaps commanded more attention than even the savaging the wealth business received during…
Big super seems to be experiencing an identity crisis. But former federal treasurer Wayne Swan has provided a unifying vision for Australia’s gargantuan pool of retirement savings. Former federal treasurer Wayne Swan’s speech at ASFA’s 2022 conference comes as super experiences something of an identity crisis. Executives are fretting over how to maintain their culture…
In less than 20 years there will likely be a trillion-dollar super fund. So how will it throw its awesome weight around? It might have been premature to label AustralianSuper our first mega-fund. After all, it gives little room to move when coming up with a descriptor for a fund that will someday manage $1…
The recent surge in demand for fossil fuels doesn’t mean the green energy revolution is dead. But investors need to proceed with caution lest they lose their mandate to manage the transition. There are two schools of thought on what Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means for fossil fuel production and consumption. Either it will hasten…
The appetite for risk assets is turning negative, and the world’s largest investors are scurrying away from emerging market equities and debt amidst a rising tide of woe. Few would have predicted that the initial Covid market crash – in which it was determined, once and for all, that the windows on Wall Street don’t…
The Your Future, Your Super (YFYS) test is here to stay – but CIOs are still adapting to the idiosyncrasies of their new benchmarks. “The performance test gives you an additional target,” Anna Shelley, CIO of AMP, told the ASFA Conference on Wednesday (27 April). “And you can be the best archer in the world,…
Australia’s superannuation funds are now parking member money further and further away from their old backyard. But a more divisive world presents them with challenges they’ve not faced before. It’s perhaps unsurprising that the opening of ASFA’s 2022 conference was dominated by conversations usually reserved for the war room. The rapid divestment from Russia –…
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…
