News

As most psychologists will say: you should fret only about things which you can influence. For super funds and their managers, that tends to be about costs rather than revenue. The big costs are tax and implementation costs. They may be problematic, but they are at least under your control. According to a new paper…

Ausbil Investment Management has become the first Australian company to sign the landmark ‘Investor Declaration on Plastic Pollution’. The global declaration pledges to find solutions to the worldwide problem through corporate commitments, programs and policies. MÃ¥ns Carlsson-Sweeny, the head of ESG research at Ausbil, said: “This is an active engagement approach with the major users of plastic…

by Greg Bright In the rapidly developing world of class actions, involving recovery of losses by investors and other affected parties, recent trends are impacting the industry. Here are some of them. With more cases being brought before the courts, in Australia and elsewhere, Financial Recovery Technologies (FRT), a global firm which specialises in shareholder…

BGL Corporate Solutions, a leading developer of ASIC corporate compliance and SMSF administration software and systems, is “incredibly concerned” by ASIC’s ‘Are SMSFs for you?’ letter to self-managed fund trustees. In a statement last week, on October 24, Ron Lesh, BGL’s managing director, said: “The document, in our opinion, contains numerous calculation and logic errors….

It’s always a good sign when a senior funds manager retains some elements of research in his or her job, perhaps following closely a handful of companies, or a sector. This is particularly so in the world of credit and loans, both of which are hot topics. Ralph Hinckley does this so he can “keep…

by Greg Bright For the third time in the last few years a custodian bank in Australia has tried to change its technology platform with messy results. JP Morgan was the first to try to ditch its system and then back-tracked. The Australian CEO, Jane Perry, left that position shortly after. BNP Paribas was next…

REAMS Asset Management, a US-based specialist fixed income manager, has started to market its unconstrained fixed income strategies in Australia, through third-party marketing firm Introvest. The firm, which launched in 1981and is led by long-time CIO, Mark Egan, has been managing unconstrained fixed income since 1998, with an average annual return of 9.3 per cent….

More opportunities among value stocks and an increasing disconnect between market sentiment and company fundamentals, particularly for companies focused primarily on Australian demand, are among the highlights for the latest annual reporting season. In its semi-annual review of the reporting season results, including broker and company revisions, and with the aid of more than 150…

Don Russell, who joined the AustralianSuper board in May this year, will become the fund’s next chairman following the retirement of Heather Ridout, who has been the chair since 2013. Ian Silk, AustralianSuper chief executive, said: “Don has an extraordinary range of experience in both the private and public sectors and also has a very…

The NZ$43 billion (A40.1 billion) $NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) revealed it has wound up three private equity mandates over the last year with a total value of about NZ$100 million. According to the NZS website, it has exited the NZ$35 million Hancock Natural Resources timber investment after a 14-year holding period. As well, the fund…

A “challenging” presentation from UK-based macro-economic analysis firm, Absolute Strategy Research (ASR), has underscored the dangers facing investors in an era of low interest rates and rising recession risk, according to Andrew Bascand, Harbour Asset Management managing director. Bascand said the gloomy analysis, delivered last week in NZ at a Harbour roadshow by ASR co-founder…

Of all the big questions investors need to address across various time periods, the biggest, over the short- to medium-term at least, is undoubtedly ‘where are we in the cycle?’. While difficult to answer with precision, the strong consensus is ‘late’. What to do about it is the next big question. Aviva Investors – the…