News

Sally Humphris  The proportion of employers in financial planning groups intending to increase salaries has almost doubled in the past 12 months, according to the latest financial planning survey by recruitment firm The Dawson Partnership. The survey follows another annual study by the firm, on hiring intentions, which also indicated a bullish period ahead for…

Geoff Warren Super fund members are more engaged with their default fund selection than previously thought, according to new research sponsored by the Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR), published last week prior to its conference being held in Sydney this week (August 11-12). The research paper, ‘Structure and Responsibilities in Default Superannuation Funds:…

Link Market Services confirmed last week it would buy the Aon NZ superannuation admin business in a move first mooted in early July. Stan Malcolm, Link’s NZ head of operations, said the private equity-owned registry business was on track to absorb Aon’s staff and client base in the next few months. “Once we’ve executed [the…

Tom Garcia by Greg Bright In a surprise supplementary submission to the Government over its proposal for compulsory independent trustee directors on big super fund boards, AIST last Friday launched a stinging attack on the proposal and APRA’s involvement. AIST questioned APRA’s role in defining, interpreting and judging the ‘independence’ of trustees. The AIST submission,…

Andrea Slattery  SMSFs are wrestling with the same dilemma that big super funds are wrestling with: what to do with their rising pile of cash? More of it, according to the annual survey of the SMSF Association, is going into commercial property. But residential property is getting difficult for SMSFs. The latest SMSF Association survey,…

Drew Wilson Funds manager servicing company Fundhost Ltd has recruited Drew Wilson back to the firm as joint chief executive, alongside founder Anne Ridgway. He had previously spent about three years with Fundhost as a business development manager. Wilson, an experienced marketer, who came to Australia from Canada with Toronto Dominion Bank in 2000, said…

Anne-Maree O’Connor A new corporate governance alliance between New Zealand’s largest institutional investors was launched last week with 16 member organisations, representing about 15 per cent of the NZ share market. The Corporate Governance Forum (CGF) is being chaired by Anne-Maree O’Connor, who is head of responsible investment for the NZ Super Fund. CGF currently…

Simon Cox   “Our scenario is ambitious but I don’t think it’s crazy,” says Simon Cox, the investment strategist for BNY Mellon Investment Management in Asia Pacific. He made an interesting case for global optimism, last week, in a series of presentations for advisors. “We thought it was at least worth exploring more optimistic scenarios for…

Rupal Bhansali  Just as all good things must come to an end, so, all bad things must too. But the trick to contrarian investing, according to a leading proponent on the global stage, Rupal Bhansali, is not to try to catch all falling knives. The CIO of Ariel Investments likes a neat turn of phrase….

Mark Warminger New Zealand’s financial regulator has launched civil proceedings against Milford Asset Management (MAM) portfolio manager, Mark Warminger, on alleged market manipulation charges. In a statement issued last week, the Financial Markets Authority said it would be seeking “pecuniary penalties” from Warminger in relation to trading carried out at Milford between December 2013 and…

by Greg Bright  UBS Wealth-spawned Crestone group, which starts life on October 1 with more than $20 billion under advice, will use the Avaloq platform developed for Deutsche Private Wealth rather than that of FNZ, which has had an alliance with UBS Investment Bank for big super funds. UBS Wealth initiated a review of its…

Willie Watt Martin Currie is looking to boost its institutional presence in Australia with a new push in the retirement incomes space by the former Legg Mason Australia ‘equity income’ fund and the establishment of a locally domiciled unit trust for a new global low-volatility-style fund. Willie Watt, the Edinburgh-based global chief executive of Martin…