News

(Pictured: Rory Wainer) In an intriguing deal, Link Group, the big private equity-controlled super fund administrator and share registry company, has bought Syncsoft, a well-regarded systems business which boasts some of Australia’s largest super funds as its clients. The deal is expected to be announced today (Monday). Syncsoft’s 80-or-so staff have been told of the…

(Pictured: Hugh Dougherty) Towers Watson is doing a global search to appoint a hedge fund expert to one of its Australian offices as part of an effort to have “a much higher level of engagement” with hedge funds on behalf of its clients, according to Hugh Dougherty, the firm’s head of manager research, Australia. Dougherty…

(Pictured: Andrew Dyson) Affiliated Managers Group should have a better view of our world than most other fund managers. It owns or has interests in 27 affiliated firms operating in either regional or global markets.  And, according to Andrew Dyson, the global head of distribution, things are definitely looking up. Dyson, an executive vice president…

(Pictured: Paul Chadwick) There was some good news – the hedge fund industry is too small to pose a systemic risk – and some bad news – the prospect of a nuclear holocaust is greater than you think.  But the best news was that Australia’s hedge fund industry, under the auspices of AIMA, put on…

(Pictured: Simon Ford) Simon Ford, head of alternative investments for ANZ Wealth and Private, delivered a few home truths to the faithful at the AIMA conference. He told them they needed to merge and keep merging until they got to at least $1 billion in assets under management. But in any case, 98 per cent…

(Pictured: David Chaplin) The first comprehensive study of the New Zealand financial advisory market demonstrates a massive concentration of ownership by AMP and four Australian banks, as AMP last week increased its lead with the purchase of another four financial planning practices. The study, “AFA Today – an Analysis of New Zealand’s Investment Adviser Market”,…

(Pictured: Martin Codina) A Tony Abbott victory on the weekend now means certain parts of the Future of Financial Advice reforms, which became compulsory on July 1 this year, are likely to be rolled back. The new treasurer in waiting, Joe Hockey, has made clear that his government will remove the opt-in condition, i.e. the…

By Penny Pryor All Australian funds moved up the size rankings in the latest annual survey of the world’s top 300 retirement plans, produced by publisher Pensions & Investments and consulting firm Towers Watson. Of the 15 Australian funds that appear on the list, five are in the top 100, with the Future Fund having…

(Pictured: Ron Bird) The growth and size of the financial sector in developed nations – a trend dubbed ‘financialisation’ – are the subjects of increasing interest and some concern among regulators, academics and policy makers. The issue will be dissected at next month’s annual conference of the Paul Woolley Centre at UTS in Sydney. The…

The boss of a mid-size US-based hedge fund of funds, called Common Sense Investment Management, has been caught up in a police sting on a prostitution ring. James Bisenius, the CEO and CIO of the US$2.9 billion Oregon-based manager was arrested along with eight other men on charges of patronizing prostitutes, as part of a…

(Pictured: Amanda Field) A benefit of a low-return environment is that investors tend to put a lot more emphasis on analyzing the efficiency of their implementation actions and assessing their decision-making processes. They should do this in good times too. One of the tools which is increasingly being used in Australia and elsewhere is the…

(Pictured: David Collins) Nikko Asset Management is further integrating its business support functions with that of its Australian subsidiary, Tyndall Asset Management, with the establishment of a new position of global group marketing and communications. David Collins has joined Nikko in Tokyo from Hartford Financial Services Group. He was formerly a television producer and has…