News

(Pictured: Murray Brewer) T. Rowe Price has expanded its Australian business with the opening of an office in Melbourne, which will be staffed by David Frazer, who joined last year as institutional relationship manager, and Heath Branigan, as business development manager on the retail side. Branigan has been with T. Rowe Price for three years, concentrating…

(Pictured: Debbie Wilkes) Industry funds have a way to go to reach the probable new standard of one-third independents on their boards. Only 21 (11.0 per cent) of the 190 trustee directors of 20 of Australia’s largest industry funds are independent, according to a study by Industry Moves. UniSuper, HostPlus and MTAA, are the only funds…

(Pictured: Ian Dunbar) Ian Dunbar, the former head of investment platforms in the Platform Solutions Group at UBS, who left the firm last month, has started his own specialist consulting firm, FinDigital. Dunbar will be focusing on advice relating to disruption in the financial services sector from technological and other changes. He is chairing a session…

(Pictured: Michael Hunstad) With the increasing popularity of smart beta strategies, discussion among investors has moved beyond the underlying ‘factors’ – whether they are sustainable, for instance – to product design and implementation. Managers such as Northern Trust are now refining ‘pure factor’ exposures to avoid unintended consequences. Michael Hunstad, Northern Trust Investments’ head of quantitative…

(Pictured: Dean Thomas)  AMP has recruited Dean Thomas, former general manager, retail wealth platforms, at NAB as its director of product, strategy and services, commencing today (January 19). The position was formerly held by Melinda Howes, who left last year to become general manager, superannuation, at BT Financial Group. Thomas, who also has experience in…

(Pictured: David Kabiller) AQR Capital Management is to fund a new research institute for the asset management industry to be run by the London Business School. The partnership, which has a 10-year commitment from AQR, aims at advancing research and best practice in the industry globally. The US$122 billion quant-oriented equities firm, which was founded in…

(Pictured: Stephen Huppert) Australia’s implemented consultants can add value in their manager selection, but, at the whole-fund level, this tends to be dissipated by poor asset allocation decisions, according to a new report from Deloitte Actuaries & Consultants. The report published last week, entitled ‘Beating Those Super Fees: Is Active Management Delivering?’, was based on a…

(Pictured: Simon Lindsay) The friendly deal between Aurora Funds and its largest shareholder, Keybridge Capital, opens new opportunities in retail funds management which have proved difficult for the smaller listed company to pursue. But it also reflects a trend away from alpha-seeking boutiques in the retail market. The arrangement, announced over the New Year’s break, will…

(Pictured: Guy Eliffe) AMP Capital has abandoned its New Zealand equities operation, making redundant the long-time head of NZ shares, Guy Eliffe, prior to handing over NZ$760 million (A$722 million) to a “third-party active equity manager”. In a client note dated December 19 last, AMP NZ said the move was prompted by “our views on the…

(Pictured: Scott Minerd) Investors who have sought out higher-yielding credit for their fixed income portfolios due to generally low interest rates need to be cautious about sentiment following the slump in oil prices. Spreads have widened as energy makes up 15 per cent of the high-yield corporate bond index. Guggenheim Partners, a global credit specialist, has…

(Pictured: James Leplaw) News Corporation has launched its foray into the SMSFs systems and advice market, with the Eureka Report’s ‘brightday’ service, developed in partnership with OneVue, going live last week. The service links a transaction platform with Eureka Report and other research. James Leplaw, Eureka Report publisher and brightday general manager, says the platform is…

In a rare action in the institutional investment world, Towers Watson is being sued by a former client for “negligent” advice relating to a currency hedge dating back to 2008. The advice was given by the former Watson Wyatt before it merged with the former Towers Perrin. The action has been taken in the UK,…