News

(Pictured: Bernard Reilly) Bernard Reilly has left State Street Global Advisors, where he was most recently global head of strategy and an executive vice president, after 24 years with the firm, the last nine of which were internationally focused. He decided, he said last week, that, with two teenage boys, he wanted to spend most of…

(Pictured: Andrew Boal) Independence of trustee board directors and how to deal with members’ longevity risk are two of the biggest concerns of superannuation funds, according to Towers Watson Australia managing director, Andrew Boal. To deal with the first, Boal recently released a paper that concluded there isn’t enough to support the compulsory appointment of independent…

(Pictured: Maria Wilton) Expectations of rising interest rates are not traditionally seen as conducive to strong bond performance, but that hasn’t stopped at least two local fund managers announcing they will enter this space over the past month. And investors shouldn’t believe all market hype when it comes to fixed income and interest rates anyway, according…

(Pictured: Cathy Binnington) by Penny Pryor. A cross-industry working group on indigenous issues in superannuation is putting together a discussion paper that will address some of the inequities of the system that effect indigenous Australians. The working group also hopes to develop a set of guidelines that will help deal with the systemic disadvantages that the…

(Pictured: Virginie Maisonneuve) The current low rate environment should be supportive of US stocks but investors need to look for regions, sectors and companies that will benefit from solid fundamentals. “While bank lending remains constrained, particularly in Europe, good companies – such as Apple recently – are good examples of how companies are using low rates…

(Pictured: Anthony Asher) by Greg Bright. ‘ESG’ is, for good reason, an important consideration for fiduciary investors. The ‘G’, in particular, seems to make sense and, maybe more importantly, money. But our measurement of governance has to date been pretty rough. A group of academics from the University of NSW have now produced an interesting paper…

by Rob Goodlad* Recently I decided to examine whether I was one of the lucky baby boomers that just might continue to escape financial hardship. Paul Keating’s comments on the matter rang loud in my ear. He has suggested that it is impossible to work 30 to 35 years and use those accumulated savings within…

Comment by Greg Bright Apparently, Media Super is not the only fiduciary fund in the world for which a better-resourced in-house investment management capability is being questioned on governance grounds. Here’s what’s happening at the US$50 billion United Nations pension fund. According to the US publication aiCIO: “A proposal by the CEO of the United…

(Pictured: Amanda Noble & Geoff Rimmer) Equity Trustees (EQT) has spent the last two years quietly reinventing itself and is now a formidable player in not just trustee services but also wealth management. Under the leadership of managing director Robin Burns, the company has bedded down its business structure, announced the purchase of ANZ Trustees,…

(Pictured: Phil Kearns) Phil Kearns had such a good experience with CHAMP Private Equity and Centric Wealth that he does not rule out another role in private equity in the near future. “Private equity is something that was fun and interesting… you also get to pick the brains of some great minds,” he said. “Certainly the…

(Pictured: Xavier Rolet) Last week the London Stock Exchange confirmed it was in exclusive talks with Frank Russell Company parent – The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company – regarding a potential acquisition of Russell. The statement makes LSE the last buyer standing for the company, which was put on the block earlier this year by its…

(Pictured: Zak May) by Penny Pryor High frequency trading (HFT), and its analysis, continues to court controversy in the US and globally. One of the most comprehensive global studies done on potential winners and losers of the practice, first released in 2010, has recently been republished with the express authorisation of the Commodity Futures Trading…