The problem with high expectations is that you have to keep meeting them. And after a year where some funds returned 20 per cent, investors and super members are expecting more, more, more. Investors are relentlessly cheerful creatures. According to Schroders’ latest Global Investor Study, Australian investors (defined here as those expecting to invest the…
The tilt at Sydney airport and the privatisation of WestConnex has showcased the appetite for Australian infrastructure from super funds and offshore investors. The only problem is in meeting it. “The appetite to invest in Australia, as you’re seeing through these mega-privatisations, is huge,”says Nicole Walker, chief commercial officer at specialist alternative asset manager HRL…
Two case studies this week provide an interesting opportunity to re-examine investor behaviour. As it turns out, a monkey can beat the market. Have you heard the one about the crypto-trading hamster? Mr Goxx is the only employee/inhabitant of Goxx Capital, a specially outfitted cage which allows him to trade cryptocurrencies based on his movements…
While the worst is probably over, emerging markets are still in a tailspin. But the best thing about starting low is that can aim high. For many investors, China’s recent regulatory crackdown has been a waking nightmare. Add on the delta variant, rolling blackouts, and Evergrande, and it’s a little disconcerting to hear Dr Joseph…
Fiona Reynolds, the former CEO of the UN-supported Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI), has continued a barrage of board and executive appointments with a director position at Frontier. Reynolds will join the board of Frontier as a non-executive director as she concludes a nine-year posting as chief executive for the PRI. The move comes as…
September has historically been a bad month for markets, and it could be about to get worse. But then again, talk is cheap. Everybody in equity markets knows that September is the cruellest month, to paraphrase Elliot.Nobody really understands why it happens (theories range from tax-related selling to seasonal behavioural biases) but it happens. The…
As superannuation and life insurance consolidation continues apace, risk firm Retender warns that the government cannot rely on the invisible hand of the market to ensure competitive outcomes. It’s well understood that big super is getting bigger. That’s as a result of both “Your Future Your Super”, which drives consolidation by closing underperforming products and…
Cashed-up industry funds are expected to be leaders leader in post-pandemic M&A activity as investors begin to see the light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel. While Fidelity anticipates that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a structural shift in consumer and market behaviour, the increased certainty provided by reopening means that M&A activity will…
Investment consultants like JANA, Frontier, and Willis Towers Watson, are banding together to “drive real change” by confronting the “daunting” task of accomplishing a net zero transition. The Net Zero Investment Consultants Initiative (NZICI) will see consultants embed advice on the transition to net zero into their advisory work and support clients on developing policies…
Super funds may soon be forced to reveal internal valuations for unlisted assets. But the lesson from the Future Fund is that the new regulations aren’t in anybody’s best interests. While much of government’s recent focus has been on implementing the “Your Future Your Super” performance test, super funds could also soon be subject to…
