News

(Pictured: Ian Perkins) Ian Perkins has kicked his first goal since becoming acting chief executive of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Australia, with the successful bid for custody and investment administration of TWU Super. The new contract, announced last week, followed a review by the fund with assistance from specialist consultant Drew Vaughan of Dymond, Foulds…

(Pictured: Sam Sicilia and Nicolle Rantanen) The CIO and COO Awards, which were presented for the first time last week under the joint production of founding sponsor La Trobe Financial and the Fund Executives Association Ltd, will be expanded next year to include a category for CFOs. The Awards, which carry a cash prize of $10,000…

(Pictured: Phillip Weinberg) BestEx, the Australian provider of outsourced trading services to fund managers and super funds, is to launch a new-style trading ‘venue’ which aims to combine the best of the ‘lit’ and ‘dark pool’ markets. To be launched in Australia in the first quarter of next year, the trading venue, called Block Event, will…

(Pictured: Connie Mckeage) The new Eureka Report and OneVue will charge broker fees or asset-based fees for the range of investment products on their new investment platform brightday. OneVue Group chief executive officer, Connie Mckeage, said the platform was created for the kinds of investors that have some interaction with professional advisers and accountants but like…

 (Pictured: Philip Hind) Over 150 large APRA funds will be receiving contributions via the SuperStream standard by Christmas, according to the Australian Taxation Office. Currently 100 funds are already receiving contributions through the new system with at least 50 more, including one trustee company for small APRA funds or SAFs, coming on by the end of…

(Pictured: Ashley Porter) by Patrick Liddy Welcome to the Third Industrial Revolution, it will change the nature of superannuation and, in particular, challenge the current choice of platforms for many, if not all, super fund members. The great economic revolutions in history were infrastructure revolutions. What made those revolutions transformational were technological breakthroughs which lead to…

 (Pictured: David Gallagher) By Barrie Dunstan A recent study has raised questions about whether asset consultants and investors can rely on what fund managers tell them about how they manage equity portfolios. A paper by three Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR) researchers examined how well Australian equity managers complied with their stated portfolio characteristics…

There are significant differences in investment flows between asset classes by institutional and retail investors, especially over the short-medium term, and differences between the types of research available to each sector, according to a recent study by eVestment. Basically, the study, which is based on eVestment’s European database, shows institutional investors tend to be ahead…

(Pictured: Todd McClone) India will offer the best emerging market opportunities, and perhaps some of the better global investing outcomes overall, over the next five years according to Todd McClone, portfolio manager of William Blair’s $US1.4 billion emerging markets leaders strategy. India is one of the few winners from the current drop in the oil price…

(Pictured: Beate Meyer) Swiss bank Vontobel’s wealth management arm – Vontobel Asset Management – is looking to build an institutional presence in Australia. Several Australian clients have previously been serviced from the firm’s Hong Kong office. Vontobel already has a bank representative managing director – Beate Meyer – and a compliance officer in its Sydney office….

(Pictured: Lucas Rooney) Neuberger Berman will take its Absolute Return Multi-Strategy (ARMS) Trust to institutional investors beyond the superannuation space, following a positive retail rating for the fund. Local managing director, Lucas Rooney, said the retail fund, which was launched just a month ago, already has $20 million in it, although the strategy has no institutional…

(Pictured: Steve Davis) For the relatively small financial advising arm of the Australian Unity group, the changes in Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) legislation have already cost it $1 million – and could cost the group perhaps another $250,000 as a result of this week’s reversal by the Senate. Steve Davis, chief executive officer of AU’s…