News

(Pictured: Grahame Evans) A white-labelled platform used to cost over $250,000. Today, advisors can get one for a fraction of the price – that’s if they still want one, Grahame Evans* writes. He believes that the ‘power’ in the platforms space in the industry is shifting, thanks to technology and changing customer demand. It wasn’t that…

(Pictured: Nate Dalton) The benefits of boutiques are well documented. It’s mainly about size, nimbleness and staff ownership, leading to proven outperformance. But the disadvantages are not so well known. They’re mainly about succession. The problem has always been handling succession without losing the former benefits. Nate Dalton, president and chief operating officer of Affiliated Managers…

(Pictured: Jim McCaughan)  Keeping a watchful eye on valuations, Jim McCaughan, the chief executive of Principal Global Investors, says that it is probably not too late to lift an under-weighting to the US share market. “We think the US has another two or three years to go,” he says. On a visit to Australia last…

(Pictured: Andrew Bascand) Harbour Asset Management of New Zealand has launched a new wholesale global equities Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) fund in association with Baltimore-based growth manager T. Rowe Price. While T. Rowe Price markets to larger institutions directly, Andrew Bascand, Harbour managing director, said the deal would give smaller-scale NZ investors tax-effective access to one…

(Pictured: Catherine Nance)  With the recruitment of David St John, the former UniSuper CIO and current super fund investment advisor, PwC has signalled its intention to expand its services to big super funds and fund managers in direct competition with the traditional asset consulting firms. The global accounting and advisory firm is looking to provide…

(Pictured: Warren Chant) by Greg Bright The third annual Chant West Super Fund Awards, to be announced on May 6 at a black-tie event at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney, follows three themes for the funds which have helped Warren Chant, the research firm’s enigmatic principal, to narrow down his short list. Fees and My Super…

(Pictured: Sinclair Scholfield) State Street, the big global custodian bank and fund manager, and FNZ, the global systems company with humble beginnings in New Zealand, have forged an unlikely alliance. They are looking to provide institutional-grade securities servicing to the member-direct market. At first glance these two companies do not seem to have much in common….

(Pictured: Bruce Watson) by David Chaplin* At least one of the $NZ30 billion plus Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) investment fund’s two custodians is set to lose out as the Government-owned entity rejigs its back-office. Meantime, Australia’s AUSCOAL Super, also a JP Morgan client, goes to tender this week. In New Zealand, it appears to be a…

(Pictured: Pat Liddy) Securities servicing is going through a period of significant disruption. The SMSF movement, technological advances and heightened competition have combined to make 2015 one of the most challenging that the industry is likely to have seen. In this special report, PATRICK LIDDY rates the players and looks at the likely landscape for securities…

(Pictured: Phil Filippelis) BNY Mellon Investment Management has appointed its new Australia country head and director, institutional distribution, to replace Bruce Murphy, who moved to one of the firm’s affiliated managers late last year. The new country head, Phil Filippelis, is based in Sydney and reports to the BNY Mellon IM regional head, Mark Speciale,…

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) announced last Thursday night in London that it planned to put the investment management arm of Russell Investments up for sale, a move that was widely anticipated after it bought the owner of the Russell stock market indices last year. In June, LSE agree to acquire Russell for US$2.7 billion…

(Pictured: Amelie Delaunay) Australian institutional investors in direct property are increasingly putting their money offshore and it’s mainly going to Europe and the US, rather than within the region, according to the latest investor survey by ANREV. The Asian Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles has published its eight annual survey, which also incorporates…