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Markets are expensive, driven by powerful forces which want to turn a 40 year bull market into the first ever 50 year one. That trend is not one to embrace, and standing in its way could put investors in dire straits, writes Jonathan Ruffer.

Megafunds are set to control trillions in member savings, but there’s still more questions than answers about the future direction and shape of the superannuation system.

Australia’s sovereign wealth fund’s prediction of a tough year for investors didn’t come to pass, but they’re not the only well-resourced manager that missed the mark. For investors, this period is a reminder that investment patterns may exist, but markets certainly aren’t beholden to them.

The Your Future, Your Super performance test is now redundant. The superannuation industry, and its regulators and policymakers, must figure out what comes next.

Against a backdrop of increasing market complexity, the models that have for decades underpinned the way investments are made are no longer as useful as they once were, and threats to the financial system still lurk in its plumbing.

An eventual market correction won’t necessarily be marked by its depth, writes Jonathan Ruffer, but by its speed. Caution may come at a price, but investors will have a different perspective on that price once it’s been paid in full.

In the topsy turvy world of Your Future, Your Super being down 20 per cent is only a bad thing if the benchmark is 50 bips better, and defensive positioning in a weird market isn’t rewarded.

The introduction of the Your Future, Your Super performance test has led to many strange portfolio construction outcomes. They might get stranger yet.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, investment managers have been bedeviled by the question of how much attention they should pay to geopolitics. Part of the answer can be found in parking lots.

AMP’s best deserve more than its worst, but the unilateral reduction of their redundancy benefits means that’s what they’ve gotten. There’s still time for its executive committee to make good.

Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to member services. Megafunds might be able to mass customise, but when you’ve got two million members it’s tough to bring the personal touch.

First Sentier’s decision to close a number of strategies and pivot towards private markets handily illustrates the pressures facing the Australian funds management scene – and the new period of competition into which it is now entering.