Capital Group has a handy person to call on when it comes to looking at US politics from an Australian perspective – a former Australian ambassador to the US and Capital’s vice chairman, Michael Thawley. He thinks investors shouldn’t be too worried by a Biden victory. In a webinar held while the result was still…
About half of institutional asset owner costs get lost in the wash, according to a new study by CEM Benchmarking. An analysis of 24 large global asset owners representing over US$4.4 trillion found 49 per cent of investment costs were unreported. “Our research indicates that, at best, only half of true total investment management costs…
From Long-Term Thematic Trends to Short-Term Trend-Following Momentum Trendspotting isn’t just about what’s en vogue. For investors, the duration of trends covers a wide spectrum – from multi-year (or multi-decade) secular themes, through to shorter-term trend-following strategies, which see
The $44 billion State Super NSW fund has made its first single-country market investment outside Australia, into an ‘All China’ equities strategy managed by Ninety One. The rare allocation and precise choice of mandate were focused on risk mitigation, according to State Super. State Super, an old NSW public service fund is closed to new…
Federated Hermes Investors is sharpening its focus on the Asia Pacific region, with the establishment of a subsidiary in Sydney, with a new head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand, and the recruitment of two new sales directors for its Singapore office. New strategies from US parent Federated Investors are expected to follow. Federated…
As super funds still struggle to build and manage their own better pension products, conscious of the ticking demographic clock, one of the key aspects to doing so will be the establishment of the most appropriate benchmark. Parametric runs through the possibilities. In a brief research note, ‘Income Targeting in a Retirement Portfolio – too…
After 35 years in the super industry and having recently turned 60, Geoff Peck is to retire in December from Chant West, where he is head of client services. He is proud of the industry in which he spent his career. While most of his career – apart from the early years and the last…
Dynamic asset allocation (DAA) refers to the process of frequently and significantly adjusting the mix of asset classes in a given portfolio. It sits at the stark opposite end of the strategic asset allocation (SAA) approach implemented by most financial advisers and pension funds, which effectively relies on a set-and-forget allocation with some tinkering around…
This week we had the pleasure of speaking with the exceptional Fabio Ferro, Director of Scala Private Wealth. Specialising in investment advice for high-net-worth families, Fabio is an avid writer and outspoken market commentator. Here’s what he had to say: Favourite weekend activity in COVID-19 lockdown? Heading out cycling with my boys. What was your…
There is a US$550 billion ($764 billion) market that is rarely considered by Australian investors. Convertible bonds (CBs) are barely used locally, while in the US and Europe these are a key component of a growing company’s capital and pension fund portfolios. To appreciate this market, we must consider why CBs make sense for an…
