News

len Brennan by David Chaplin After months of speculation and false starts, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has hived off Russell Investments for US$1.15 billion to two US-based firms: a kittle-known fund manager and a private equity funder. One suspects this is not the end of the story. LSEG said last Friday it would…

Rob Krugman by Greg Bright* Have you noticed that people don’t respond to emails anymore? Marketing via email is pretty much dead, unless the recipient knows the sender personally. So, Broadridge Financial Solutions is helping clients to distribute financial information via different channels. Rob Krugman, the New York-based head of digital strategy for Broadridge, has…

Jeff Middleswart AFM Investment Partners is to launch an mFund for its global yield fund being managed by Texas-based Ranger International, complementing the fund’s platform access on Hub24 and direct lines for investors. John Donovan, AFM managing director, said last week that the Ranger International fund was clearly relevant for Australians looking for income generation…

Geoff Warren With collaboration from the Future Fund, the Centre for International Finance and Regulation has produced a body of research which amounts to an investor’s guide for capturing the advantages of long-term investing and avoiding some of the traps along the way. Geoff Warren, academic and former asset consultant, who is CIFR’s research director,…

Chi Lo The good news is that BNP Paribas Investment Partners, a big global and multi-affiliate manager, has provided clients in the Asia Pacific region with a reassuring view on the Chinese economic outlook. The bad news is that this is not necessarily a house view. Chi Lo, the senior economist covering Greater China at…

Investors – limited partners (LPs) – are becoming more positive about the Asia Pacific region as they see the risk-reward profile improving in several key markets. A recent survey by Coller Capital found that investors were more bullish on opportunities in India, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. The survey of 113 LPs compares with…

Adrian Orr Sovereign wealth funds must begin exerting collective pressure on the financial industry over costs, the seventh annual meeting of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds was told last week. The 29-member body represents 70 per cent of the world’s sovereign wealth fund assets. Adrian Orr, the IFSWF’s chair – and chief executive…

Andrew Dyson The structural challenges facing Australian fund managers, such as retailisation, fee pressures, retirement demographics and new technologies, are not confined to this country. But there are many nuanced local differences. Andrew Dyson, Affiliated Managers Group’s head of global distribution, is in a good position to comment. Dyson, who was on a regular visit…

Larry Tabb Likely changes in trading and execution on major financial markets due to technological disruption combined with the impact of regulations will not all be good for the ultimate investor. Opportunities will be forgone in the demand for more transparent, simpler and liquid products. Speaking at last week’s annual FIX Trading Community conference in…

Ben Johnson Morningstar’s second annual study of the listed smart beta market, ‘A Global Guide to Strategic-Beta Exchange-Traded Products’, shows Australia has outpaced the global universe for these tilted or engineered ETFs, with an increase of 30 per cent against the global 25.5 per cent rise over the past year. Morningstar defines strategic beta –…

Lars Jaeger Two developments are capturing the imagination of a broad investor base: smart beta and new ways to allocate between asset classes and return drivers. Recent research from GAM shows how the two can be combined with quantifiable benefits. The research note ‘Alternative Risk Premia – A New Generation of Alternative Investments in Liquid, Cost-efficient…

Nick Evans A new research report from TH Real Estate has highlighted the diversification benefits institutional investors can gain by investing in European retail property. The manager believes retail will continue to be less volatile than office blocks over the medium-long term. The 40-page report, launched in Australia last week, provides an overview of the…