News

The asset consultant’s strategy of shopping its services to the demanding not-for-profit sector is paying off, with Uniting Financial Services retaining it for portfolio construction, manager research and ESG advice.

The world’s largest asset manager has picked up Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in a move that will give it greater access to the fastest-growing segment of the private markets and define “the next 20 years” of its business.

Geopolitical tension, US electoral uncertainty and a commercial real estate crash loom as the fastest-rising risks for the financial services industry next year, according to the latest industry poll by securities post-trade giant, DTCC.

Incoming populist leaders unleashing “incoherent” policies could shake markets, according to Colonial First State CIO Jonathan Armitage, while investors with dry powder on hand stand to win big as distressed selling takes hold in private equity and infrastructure.

A rally in risk in the waning months of 2023 has pushed super fund returns into strongly positive territory, but some funds don’t want to count their chickens before they hatch.

There were 3000 super funds in 1981. But when Russell Mason retires after 42 years of trust deeds and time sheets, the world he worked in as a trusted adviser and governance expert will have only about 70 funds left.

With less than two weeks left to go, super funds will likely turn in another robust calendar year return off the back of a stratospheric risk rally.

The $300 billion super fund has taken its mandate with Churchill Asset Management to the next level in a sign that the voracious appetite for private debt from pension funds around the world remains unsated.

Local institutions need to be prepared for rising cyber threats while keeping both eyes on the reputational damage that can stem from a successful breach, according to the Australian Custodial Services Association.

The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) has put listed companies on notice over executive pay and cyber-security in a bid to “raise the bar on governance”.

Super funds and other large institutions will be able to provide financial advice to their members following the introduction of a package of reforms that have been hailed as “transformative” for the industry.

A big global custodian is unlikely to swoop in and help former NAB Asset Servicing clients as they search for a new provider, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get a better outcome by taking a good look at their business.