News

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…

Philippe Jordan Capital Fund Management (CFM), the Paris-based global hedge fund manager, which has been attracting Australian institutional interest over the past seven years, will launch its first local retail offering this week, which blends six alternative beta strategies. The fund – the ‘CFM Institutional Systematic Diversified Trust’ – is being distributed by Winston Capital…

Craig Hurt  There is a bit of a backlash against indexing through the use of smart beta strategies by big super funds and ETFs by individual investors, as well there should be. However, before we throw the baby out with the bathwater, investors should consider improving on the latest batch of quant-driven semi-passive options. AXA…

John O’Connell by David Chaplin Macquarie Bank has lent its big brand to the robo-advice revolution. And, from all accounts, the Macquarie offering is not just a calculator which prompts investors into a range of ETFs. As difficult as it may seem to believe, this may be the real deal for independently minded investors. The…

The NAB biennial super fund foreign exchange survey is one of the industry’s more worthwhile studies. In the wake of the FX scandals overseas during 2012-2014, this year’s survey should have been particularly interesting. But super funds are not fazed by their FX positions and counterparty risks, the survey indicates. The survey results published last week…

by Greg Bright Neuberger Berman and JP Morgan Asset Management have cracked the ‘Texas model’, thanks to Sunsuper, in what are believed to be the first multi-asset mandates of their kind in Australia. But the $35 billion fund has also indexed a large chunk of its portfolio ahead of the arrival of its new CIO….

Scott Hartley The interconnectivity of the investment world was well displayed last week with three separate announcements – the new CEO of Qantas Super, the new CIO of Sunsuper and the new CEO of JANA. The link is Scott Hartley. Hartley, the CEO of Sunsuper, appointed Ian Patrick, the CEO of JANA, one of its…