News

Research Affiliates of the US, which this year opened an Australian office, has partnered with global manager and securities servicing firm BNP Paribas and a specialist governance information provider to launch its latest smart-beta strategy – ‘RAFI Diversity & Governance’. The specialist information provider, with the unlikely name ‘LeaderXXchangeSM’, is an organization that advises and…

The greenback is likely at, or near, a peak level as the economic distance between the US economy and China stabilises, a recent Brandywine Global Investment Management (BGI) client note argues. Brandywine is a global bond specialist. According to Brandywine Global, an affiliate company of Legg Mason, the US dollar has risen 7 per cent…

Willis Towers Watson has built up its consulting capabilities for operational issues for its client funds with the appointment of Greg Murphy as ‘manager, product and operations’. He was, most recently, a divisional director at Macquarie. Murphy has responsibility for managing the operational aspects of delegated client portfolios, reporting to Aongus O’Gorman, the head of…

by Greg Bright* The saga surrounding the demise of van Eyk Research and its one-time controlling shareholder, Pyne Gould Corporation, and their associated suppliers and investors, such as Macquarie Bank, two big New Zealand fiduciaries, and fund manager Aurora has played out in a three-year court case in the Cayman Islands. The 366-page judgement was…

With just some hints in its interim report – some stronger than others – as to what its recommendations may be, the Royal Commission into banking, insurance and superannuation will next focus on bank oversight at its November hearings. This will prompt the whole industry to discuss the likely options and the challenges and opportunities…

Fund managers are increasingly talking about their use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data and distributed ledger technology (blockchain) to transform their businesses and subsequently their value-add to big super funds. The real action, though, is happening at the securities services end of the food chain. Securities services companies, which are mainly very big…

SG Hiscock & Company, a celebrated boutique equities house established by its principals in 2001, has issued a warning to investors to look closely at the management of companies to see whether they have the wherewithal to deal with “21st Century business risks”. At a briefing in Sydney last week, Stephen Hiscock, the founding chairman…

Why is private equity so expensive? Because it’s worth it, according to Mike Forestner, Mercer’s Atlanta-based global co-CIO of private markets. It can offer 3 per cent returns above public markets, he says. Forestner told Mercer’s annual NZ conference last week that private equity was “complicated, expensive and governance is a challenge” but – if…

The fifth annual Asset Manager Summit, which looks at the implications of trends in funds management from a coal-face perspective, including operational issues, will feature discussions about both the institutional and the retail landscape given momentous change in the industry. The Summit is at Sydney’s Swissotel on October 18. The main topics are:: Attracting retail…

by David Chaplin The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) could increase both the size and diversity of its factor-based global equity investments, according to recently-appointed chief executive, Matt Whineray. Whineray, who took over the top job this June, said the smart beta international share mandates – awarded to Northern Trust and AQR in 2016 and 2017,…

by Greg Bright As the number of class actions over financial problems at listed companies grows in Australia, as it has been doing for the past three-four years, so does the pressure on aggrieved investors and their representatives to quantify the damage. The Australian trend is to follow America and leave that decision to the…

ESG is a journey, according to Mike Cantara. It’s about the discovery of a lot of things: from what it means to be a proper long-term fiduciary investor to what it means to be a proper long-term individual investor with a moral compass. Mike Cantara is the co-chair of the Boston-based MFS Investment Management’s ‘Sustainability…