Funds Management

The locally-listed international fundie has “massively ramped up its tech exposure” since it dropped almost all of it in 2021 in favour of big wagers on energy stocks. It’s just not all the tech that it liked before.

An offshore manager took the top gong at Hedge Funds Rock but the big win in 2023 was for an industry on the verge of “tremendous growth” – and the changing dynamics within it.

Australia’s onshore private credit market is still nascent but that’s one of its biggest strengths, according to Epsilon Direct Lending. And while some investors are fretting a new default cycle, it’s not the end of the world.

The Alternative Future Foundation wants to expand beyond its tentpole charity event and create a better-informed knowledge base about alternative managers amidst changing industry dynamics.

Size, internalisation and globalisation are now front of mind for every large fund in Australia – but every fund approaches them differently, and there’s little agreement on the benefits of the new offshore push.

Brandywine Global is conservatively positioned as it eyes volatile conditions and surging demand for fixed income solutions following a massive macro-economic reversal.

The supposed benchmark-beating powers of ESG have more to do with investors’ exposure to well-known factors rather than any sustainable secret sauce, according to quant house Scientific Beta.

The asset class is top of the private market pops as institutional investors fret valuations and liquidity in private equity and watch the ongoing commercial property dislocation with growing concern.

The energy transition is full of unknown unknowns, but there are still ways to get some certainty over returns as the world changes how it generates and distributes energy.

Commentators warn that a new default cycle will strip the shine from private debt strategies, but not all managers have been “sitting on their hands”. And the dislocation in commercial real estate is creating new opportunities for savvy managers.

While PwC expects the asset and wealth management sector to see a rebound in assets under management by 2027, it predicts a vastly changed landscape in which the top 10 per cent of managers will control half of all mutual fund assets globally.

The world of ethical investing continues to change, and Australian Ethical is investing in itself to keep up. A new CIO and a portfolio of impact investments from the Christian Super successor fund transfer are helping too.