News

by Greg Bright For many folk in the industry, the name change from BT Investment Management to Pendal Group, at a ‘ringing-of-the-bell’ ceremony at the ASX last Friday, was just a name change. For the old timers, the amateur historians and industry observers amongst us, it was much more than that. The King is dead;…

BMO Global Asset Management, which has long been an active ESG-orientated manager, has shown in its latest annual ‘Responsible Investment Review’ how the growing acceptance of ‘sustainable development goals’ (SDGs) can be mapped to allow greater understanding of a portfolio’s impact on the world. Richard Wilson, BMO GAM’s chief executive and CIO, says in the…

The Morningstar quarterly view of asset classes, published last week, emphasises the over-valuation of most equities and bond markets, including Australia’s. Despite a few minor pockets of value, the big research house has gone longer to cash in its own recommendations. The quarterly ‘economic briefing’ says that, although key equity asset classes recorded losses over the…

The annual assessment of international managers operating in, selling to and selling from China, has shown some changes among the top ranks. China is now the ‘priority for most global managers’, according to the latest Z-Ben study. UBS, Schroders, BlackRock, Fidelity and Manulife are the big winners. Z-Ben, the Shanghai-based research firm which specialises in…

J. Christopher Giancarlo told a US Government ‘House Committee’ hearing last year that the failure – of the whole world – to build a system of transparency for counterparty risk by big institutions was “certainly the most disappointing” of mandates which emerged from the global financial crisis. Now, DTCC has produced a new guide. While…

by Greg Bright QIC, the $84 billion Queensland Government-owned fund manager, has been diversifying overseas for several years and now has a big presence, especially, in the US. But that is not all that has changed since Damien Frawley took over as chief executive in July 2012. He said, in a wide-ranging interview recently, that…

By Donald A. Steinbrugge* The Federal Reserve increased its target range for the federal funds rate by 25 bps to 1.50-1.75 per cent on March 21. This marks the sixth incremental increase since December, 2015, following the dramatic cut in rates during the financial crisis. In addition, the Fed has indicated that it is forecasting…

The managed-futures space continues to evolve, with some managers, such as Winton and Aspect, using non-trend signals to complement their price momentum inputs, according to the latest ‘Sector Wrap’ report on alternatives by Morningstar Australia. Investors need to be wary of rising asset prices. The report says that trend-following across asset classes has boasted strong…

by Greg Bright For years Australia did nothing. Now, at least, we are giving the formerly downtrodden but-still poor people of Timor Leste a chance for a better future, in no small part due to Steve Bracks, the chair of Cbus and former Victorian Premier, and a growing band of super industry and wealth management…

Often compared by international investors, India and China continue to face off on their prospects for both economic growth and market attractiveness. A new report by Frontier Advisors is now putting India out front over the long term. At an investor briefing in Sydney last week, Alvin Tan, a principal consultant, and Kuek Chyuan Low…

ESG factors have started to become recognised in fixed income investing as value-adding indicators of economic performance. An increasing number of macro fund managers are beginning to incorporate some form of ESG into their decision-making process. In the latest edition of ‘Global Macro Shifts’ a client report by Michael Hasenstab, the CIO of Templeton Global…

The latest theme for big super funds to consider, according to Chant West, is a focus on the outcomes of members in retirement, taking the lead from APRA’s new outcomes assessment. This is actually a seismic shift for the institutional part of the industry. It enjoins member services with investment strategies and their implementation. The…