News

Institutional investors are demanding more corporate disclosure on sustainability, remuneration and business strategy to guide proxy-voting decisions, a new global survey has found. In a release, Kiran Vasantham, Morrow Sodali director of investor engagement, said: “This survey provides issuers with valuable insights on investor expectations and voting policies.” Morrow Sodali is an international corporate governance advisory…

Jonathan Armitage, the CIO of MLC, will deliver the keynote address at this year’s AVCJ Private Equity and Venture Forum in Sydney, March 5-7. He has the timeless topic: ‘Global Investing in Turbulent Times: how are we positioning ourselves for the future?’ The Asian Venture Capital Journal reports on a short question and answer discussion…

HESTA executive, investment execution, Rob Fowler, will retire from the fund in July, after about 15 years, resulting in a new role to be created to lead investment operations. When he joined the fund in 2004 he was only its second investment professional. Debby Blakey, HESTA chief executive, paid tribute to Fowler’s contribution for members…

by Greg Bright Just as it did last year with a name change and global expansion statement for its mainstream investment strategies, Pendal Group is now adopting a global leadership position with ESG investing. It will capitalise on a long and important history in the ESG space. The former BT Investment Management last week announced…

The reporting season for ASX-listed companies which has started this month is shaping up as the most intriguing – and important – since the global financial crisis. Will sentiment and noise overshadow fundamental strength? Well known for his published analyses of the reporting by Australian companies and their pre-and-post reporting performance, Reece Birtles, the CIO…

Perennial Value has substantially upgraded its securities services contract with NAB Asset Servicing, while reappointing the custodian following a review. The deal also reflects a growing trend for securities services firms to provide outsourced middle-office services. The manager believes it will get a “capability uplift” through the new arrangement, as well as greater operational efficiencies….

The Aura Group, a corporate advisory firm operating mainly out of Singapore and Sydney, has formed Aura Alternative Assets, with a view to launching several alternatives funds and strategies in Australia over the next one-two years. Damien Hatfield, one of the pioneers of the hedge fund industry in Australia, will head up the venture, which…

Many big investors would be better off building their own diverse portfolio of hedge funds than using certain types of the many multi-asset strategies and products now on the market, according to a new paper by Mercer. The paper, ‘Making Sense of Multi-Asset’, focuses on two of the most popular of the four types of…

Emerge Foundation, the charity backed by many funds management and financial advisory firms, last week donated $210,000 to the Australian Catholic University to help continue its work boosting education in Timor Leste. After 12 years of donations, Emerge has become the ACU’s largest single private donor, the university’s head of operations and deputy vice-chancellor, Stephen…

Comment by Greg Bright Today, every newspaper, every newsletter, every news website in Australia will blast its readers with more news and views on the Royal Commission. The only view I’d like to read is that of Adele Ferguson. Journalism is not what it used to be, but, thank heavens, there are still some proper…

One of Australia’s oldest corporate super funds, the IAG & NRMA Superannuation Plan, is to outsource its investments and administration to Sunsuper. Ironically, the NRMA fund’s default option has outperformed that of Sunsuper for the last 10 years. And its fees look reasonable too. The fund started life as a defined benefit fund for NRMA…

Link Group has reached an agreement to sell the newly acquired ‘corporate and private clients’ business of Capita Asset Services, the UK asset servicing company it paid about A$1.5 billion for in mid-2017. The £240 (A$433 million) from the sale will go to paying down debt. The share market liked the news. In a prepared…