News

December inflows of US$52 billion tipped the global exchange-traded product (ETP) market into record territory last year with investors increasingly adopting more diversified and opportunistic strategies, the latest BlackRock on the sector shows. According to the December 2015 BlackRock ‘Global ETP Landscape’ report, annual flows hit more than US$350 billion over the calendar year –…

Jason Hsu Jason Hsu, a co-founder of California-based Research Affiliates, creator of the ‘fundamental index’ and promoter of smart beta, has bought a majority interest in the firm’s Asian business, which has been re-formed into a new company known as Rayliant Global Advisors. Hsu will remain the vice chairman and a shareholder of Research Affiliates,…

US-based global manager Ranger International Management has drawn a comparison between the so-called FANG stocks in the US market and the Nifty 50 of the late1960s and early 1970s. The comparison could help investors get a better perspective on current market sentiment. The FANGs – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet (Google) – were the darlings…

(pictured: Elliot Hentov) Sovereign Wealth Funds invest in a contrarian manner compared with fund managers and super funds, according to new research from State Street Global Advisors. They take bigger bets on growth assets and use their size and longer-term liabilities time horizon to best advantage. Everyday investors can learn from them. The research paper,…

(pictured: Hansi Mehrotra) Hansi (Rashmi) Mehrotra, a former senior consultant at Mercer in Australia, and before that at van Eyk Research, has launched a new managed funds research platform in the region, known as ‘Diligence Vault’. After leaving Mercer in 2011, after nine years with the firm, she returned to India, helping to manage a…

(pictured: Dan Chapman) Argentem Creek Partners, the emerging markets credit business formerly part of Black River Asset Management, has been hived off as a separate employee-owned firm, focusing on opportunities for institutional investors. Daniel Chapman, who led the EM team at Black River and is an emerging markets distressed debt specialist, is CEO and CIO…

(pictured: Lawrence Au)  Lawrence Au has stepped down as head of Asia Pacific for BNP Paribas Securities Services and will become an advisor for the bank on key client relationships as he transitions to retirement. He has been replaced by Philippe Benoit who will also based in Hong Kong. Au has had a career in…

(pictured: Gilbert Kaplan) The founder of Institutional Investor (II) magazine, now a listed company with varied media interests, Gilbert Kaplan, who went on to become a world renowned classical conductor, has died aged 74. Kaplan started II in 1967 to cater for, primarily, fund managers which were mushrooming around Wall Street in particular. He fostered…

(pictured: Tony Crescenzi) Predicting global interest rates is going to be a lot easier in 2016 than it was last year. PIMCO has published a handy guide as part of its January Outlook for the US Federal Reserve. You start by assuming three more rate hikes. Tony Crescenzi, PIMCO portfolio manager, says you adjust your…

The year ahead promises only “limited upside potential for investment returns”, according to the Russell Investments ‘2016 Annual Global Outlook’. The multi-manager and consulting firm believes “the bar keeps rising” but Australia’s yield-bearing shares are “less compelling than they appear”. In the report, published just before the China-inspired global equity market plunge that greeted January, Russell…

Matt Brown  Matt Brown, the chief executive of NAB Asset Servicing, resigned and left the job just before Christmas, after less than a year. The news has rocked the custody sector, as Australia’s largest – and only Australian owned – firm struggles in a new landscape for securities servicing. Brown, who joined NAB Asset Servicing…

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Mehrtens, a former senior sales executive at Centric Wealth, a subsidiary of the accounting and planning group Findex, starts a new finance career in securities servicing this year. He joined NAB Asset Servicing (NAS), based in Sydney, last month. Mehrtens, 42, best known for his sporting prowess as a 70-cap rugby international…