News

(pictured: Brett Jollie) Investors believe it is “essential” that their asset managers engage with the companies in which they invest, but a significant proportion believe they are not very effective at it. A study commissioned by Aberdeen Asset Management globally provides strong support for the understanding that governance impacts on investment returns. The survey of…

Chris Wildman Mirae Asset Global Investments, the big Korean-owned global funds management and property group, has opened an Australian office for its investment firm, recruiting a former institutional business development manager at AMP Capital, Chris Wildman, to head business development for the operation. Mirae Asset is a diversified manager across the major asset classes but…

Benjamin Phillips The growing importance of the individual investor is changing the structure and growth prospects of the asset management industry. And it is happening fast in major markets. Managers need to be aware of their new business challenges, according to a report by Casey Quirk & Associates. Organic growth in the global asset management…

Andrew Godfrey Mercer this morning (November 23) launched its new initiative to advise on the big changes in the super industry – mainly consumerism and technological disruption. It involves five new customer platforms. The ‘Super Genome Project’ follows two years of business transformation, and involves a shift from the “age of administration to the age…

Paul Gardiner Link Group today (November 23) launches a smart phone super fund app, enabling members to manage their super account on what has recently become the most-used online platform. For big super funds, the pressure is now acute to have the mobile numbers and email addresses of all their members. According to evidence from…

 Seth Merrin Fund managers and their institutional clients all know about alpha losses due to market impact and other trading-related leakages but the losses are often hard to quantify. According to a study by the global trading network Liquidnet, volatility is on average 250 per cent higher for brokers and smaller dark pools. The results…

Martin Skancke The United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) organisation plans to open two new “regional hubs”, according to chair, Martin Skancke. The UNPRI will be adopting a regional structure to improve what has probably been “under-servicing” of members in some regions. Skancke told the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) conference in Auckland last…

Simon O’Connor The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) will launch a new online tool next year to link investors with appropriate products and advisors as retail demand doubles. Simon O’Connor, RIAA chief, told the group’s NZ conference in Auckland last week that consumers were increasingly interested in ethical investing. Retail demand in Australia doubled over…

Russell Mason Not-for-profit funds will continue to lead the pre-retirement savings market in Australia over the next 20 years, but the post-retirement market will be the domain of SMSFs. And retail funds will soon overtake industry funds for total market share. These are among the important trends in the structure of the super market in…

With just days to go before the crucial vote on the US$18 billion merger of global asset consultant Towers Watson and big insurance broker Willis, doubt has been cast over the result. The two largest proxy voting firms and at least one fund manager are urging a ‘no’ vote. The vote, on November 18 (US…

K.C. Nelson Driehaus Capital, an event-driven specialist manager which has sided against the proposed Towers Watson-Willis merger (see separate report), has produced a guide to this murky asset class. The ‘event’ space has changed, Driehaus says, and big super funds should take notice. Event-related activity has boomed this year, as it did through most of…

Alice Breheny By Alice Breheny* The best commercial real estate opportunities are likely to be in cities that are poised to benefit from long-term megatrends. TH Real Estate explains how these opportunities can be identified after ranking several hundred world cities. It is not all about population growth. In real estate investing, as with all…