News

Private credit is arguably the hottest asset class of the moment. Australian institutional investors have several global and local providers from which to choose. Now, there’s a not-for-profit organisation looking to promote the asset class in the region. The Alternative Credit Council (ACC), the private credit affiliate of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), has…

Among financial planners, at least, on average there appears little value in trying to enhance their clients’ portfolio returns through manager selection, new research by Research Affiliates shows. While the big asset consulting firms will dispute this from their own experience – and with some evidence to back it up – the ‘retail’ market results…

by Greg Bright We all know that index funds and smart-beta funds can, and maybe should, co-exist with active management. What we don’t know, yet, is how and to what extent this should happen. This report is based on the views of two well-respected analysts in the institutional market. APRA, with the rest of the…

by John Peterson In response to the article, “APRA still failing members with passive versus active discussion”, published on January 14, 2018, in Investor Strategy News, APRA took issue with the assertion that it is, “pushing super funds towards lower fee investment options”. As my research is the subject of the article, I am on…

By David Chaplin The year ahead will be tough for fund managers globally a new Deloitte report argues as margin squeeze, ongoing technological disruption, regulatory pressure and a consumer revolt come to a head. According to the Deloitte ‘2018 Investment Management Outlook’, the average funds management business “will likely be less profitable and have roughly…

Cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratios are not a great indicator of short-term equity market performance, but they are a good guide to longer-term behaviour, particularly corrections. And Australia is the most highly correlated of 12 major markets. According to a recent study by Research Affiliates ‘CAPE Fear: Why CAPE Naysayers are Wrong’, many factors have recently been…

The New Zealand ‘expansion capital’ sector has delivered handsomely for the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) but no further allocations are on the immediate horizon, according to chief investment officer, Matt Whineray. Whineray said last week that the NZ$37.4 billion (A$35 billion) sovereign wealth fund, which has invested about NZ$450 million in NZ expansion capital –…

Each year, Agecroft Partners – an influential US-based adviser to, and a marketer of, hedge funds – predicts the top hedge fund industry trends stemming from its contact with more than 2,000 institutional investors and hundreds of hedge fund organisations. Here are the fearless predictions for 2018 – the firm’s ninth annual tips for the…

(pictured: Kent Kwan) Not since the development of ETFs has there been a potential disruptor in funds management like this. A group of international equities managers has launched a performance-fee-only plus pay-for-research series of funds, with full transparency of holdings and with administrator Fundhost’s first all-electronic application and redemption process. The firm, Atlas Trend, has designed…

(pictured: Heather Brilliant)  Morningstar has tested the standard ‘4 per cent rule’ of how much an investor needs in retirement for Australia and New Zealand and found that in the Antipodes expectations are “probably a bit too high”. And the local share market is more volatile, requiring a lower bottom end of the drawdown range…

By Andy Schofield* Global megatrends are reshaping the world economic order. Rapid economic growth in emerging countries is leading to mass urbanisation in cities across Asia, Africa and South America. As these cities undergo a gradual transition from production to consumer industries, and increase their financial and business services, exciting opportunities will emerge for global…

(pictured: Tony Nejasmic) Calastone, which has become the major facilitator for transactions between fund managers and platforms in the past four years, doesn’t see many threats to the major platform providers from the mushrooming fintech disruptors. Calastone’s new business development director, Tony Nejasmic, said last week that the industry was witnessing the evolution of platforms and…