News

(Pictured: Benjie Fraser) Big super funds, most of which are insourcing an increasing amount of their investment management activities, are likely to always retain a significant element of external management, according to Benjie Fraser. The London-based JP Morgan managing director and global pensions executive addressed an IMCA meeting in Australia earlier this month. Fraser, who has…

 (Pictured: Ben Thornley) Ben Thornley, journalist-turned impact investing advisor to the likes of the CalPERS pension fund, has started his own consulting firm and also co-authored a book which is a definitive guide to the nascent field: “The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism”. The new firm, ICAP Partners, based in the…

Your occasional Investor Strategy News correspondent is quite a fan of the ASFA annual conference. It has that ‘trade show’ feel about it: a place where you can catch up with events, and a place where people become friends. For sponsors, it’s a place of opportunity, for delegates a place for the curious. This year…

 (Pictured: Tony Freeman) China goes live today (November 17) with its latest initiative to boost the level of institutional investment, particularly from foreign investors, in the main Shanghai share market – the Shanghai-Hong Connect, known as the ‘through train’. Tony Freeman, the head of global industry relations for the industry-owned Omgeo trading services group, says it…

State Street and systems provider FNZ Australia have announced that State Street’s Australian clients will now have access to FNZ’s wealth management technology solutions under a new arrangement which should be of interest to super funds, managers and dealer groups looking to offer new-style member directed investment options. This combined solution will bring together FNZ’s…

(Pictured: Michael Block) by Greg Bright Michael Block is set to return to Australia, after a two-year stint in Papua New Guinea, as the new CIO of the big Australian Catholic Superannuation Retirement Fund. Welcome back Michael. We’ve missed you. And this is why. With the retirement from full-time duties of its well-regarded CIO, Anne Whittaker,…

(Pictured: James Savage ) Franklin Templeton has expanded its Australian team with the recruitment of James Savage as head of institutional sales. Savage, an experienced quant-orientated manager, should add some grunt to the firm’s traditional asset management capabilities. His new role is as ‘senior manager, institutional sales’, reporting to Keri Pratt. She said the role reflected…

(Pictured: Connie Mckeage) OneVue is about to sign a “brand name” manager which will bring six managed funds to the ASX’s mFund service. It will change the perception of the market, Connie Mckeage, the OneVue chief executive, told the company’s annual meeting last week. The inaugural annual meeting of OneVue as a public company – following…

 (Pictured: Ian Perkins) BNP Paribas is looking to provide a greater array of services to its custody clients in Australia, helping fund managers, for instance, to expand their businesses internationally. Ian Perkins says there are enormous opportunities, especially in Asia. Perkins has been appointed acting head of BNP Paribas securities services in Australia and New Zealand…

QSuper has beaten its industry and retail superannuation brand counterparts in generating more member recommendations and greater member value and satisfaction, a new study has found. But, overall, the story is not good. QSuper topped the ‘Superannuation Benchmarking Study’ of the most popular super brands, conducted by Engaged Marketing. It followed a survey of more…

 (Pictured: Roger Bridges) The surprise move, the Friday before last, with the Japanese Government going to another round of quantitative easing, was not such a big surprise for Nikko Asset Management. The Tokyo-based firm was given a ‘heads up’ in September and is confident the latest initiative will prove fruitful. Roger Bridges, the Nikko head of…

(Pictured: David Neal) by Barrie Dunstan The investment management industry is, very slowly, raising its eyes from its short-termism to take on a long-term perspective. But David Neal thinks fund managers need to move faster. Otherwise, he says, those investors taking a long-term view, which are increasingly moving to internal funds management and becoming more professional,…