News

The supposed benchmark-beating powers of ESG have more to do with investors’ exposure to well-known factors rather than any sustainable secret sauce, according to quant house Scientific Beta.

Two of Australia’s leading superannuation bodies will soon be no more. In their place will be a new, merged entity intended to be a “powerful advocate” for the superannuation system and the funds that comprise it.

With Cbus eyeing the $100 billion mark, it’s figuring out what it can do well and what should be left to everybody else. And while other funds can’t wait to head overseas, it’s decided to stay home.

One of Australia’s largest super funds is now also one of its largest owners of retirement living assets following the acquisition of 100 per cent of Oak Tree in a demographic play.

The asset consultant has rounded out its real assets and private markets research with two new appointments as both areas grow in importance to the institutional investors it services.

The asset class is top of the private market pops as institutional investors fret valuations and liquidity in private equity and watch the ongoing commercial property dislocation with growing concern.

The chief investment officer of New Zealand’s largest non-government fund manager will leave at the end of this year after it revealed new potential arrangements with Mercer and BlackRock.

The energy transition is full of unknown unknowns, but there are still ways to get some certainty over returns as the world changes how it generates and distributes energy.

The $250 billion industry fund has hunted two new heads for its investment team while it chips away at a digital transformation project that will support its move to internalise 50 per cent of assets.

The $14 billion industry fund is in hot water over allegations its member money is exposed to companies that should have been screened out and that it held on to Russian stocks despite saying it had dumped them.

Commentators warn that a new default cycle will strip the shine from private debt strategies, but not all managers have been “sitting on their hands”. And the dislocation in commercial real estate is creating new opportunities for savvy managers.

The $74 billion industry fund is now managing roughly 10 per cent of its assets in-house, with plans to get more bang for its buck in its sustainable strategies too. But it won’t be abandoning its hybrid model anytime soon.