News

APRA’s decision not to include private credit in the Your Future Your Super fixed interest benchmark creates an opportunity for super funds to outperform without compromising tracking error, according to a new report by Atchison Consultants. APRA’s chosen benchmark for fixed interest – the Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+ index – only captures the government and…

Australia was the brightest spot for big-city property investment among Asia Pacific cities during 2021 and Melbourne showed the most improvement in the world. According to the annual study by Heitman, Chicago-based global real estate manager, of the world’s cities for their attractiveness as real estate markets, Melbourne jumped four places to 14th spot in…

Acacia Money, a fintech start-up which has embraced major consumer and market trends in financial services, this week takes its next big step through the launch of a ‘super solutions’ component of its offering. Armed with data from Chant West and aggregator Yodlee, the savings and wealth management platform launched in August will now incorporate…

Big and traditional managers are encroaching further on the space of alternative managers, gauging by winners and finalists at the sector’s annual awards on Friday night. The Australian Alternative Investment Awards, held in conjunction with the Hedge Funds Rock charity night at the Sydney Hilton, December 10, represented a welcome live, and lively, event for…

Super Rewards is looking to expand its partnership program with big super funds as a way to help them lift member engagement, particularly among women members. The company, launched by former financial services marketer-turned entrepreneur Pascale Helyar-Moray in 2019, allows cash-back incentives from selected retailers across all household spending from day-to-day shopping through to prescription…

On the first weekend of December, Citi Securities Services went live on the last of 26 former RBC Treasury & Investor Services clients, putting an exclamation point behind one of the biggest and most complex of backoffice transitions. The RBC clients, predominantly fund managers and wealth platforms, are adding about $100 billion in assets under…

Michael Lebbon wants to create carbon data that’s as ubiquitous as Uber. But he believes that too much consolidation in the still nascent industry risks creating a dangerous game of follow the leader. “I’ve never wanted to work in pure finance; it didn’t sit well with me,” says Michael Lebbon, CEO of carbon data startup…

Third-party marketer 3PD has joined up with an ESG specialist multi-affiliate and distribution company based in in London, Haven Green. 3PD, which was launched last year by Rob Harrison and Steve Larkin, two experienced funds management marketers, has formed an alliance to represent Haven Green’s managers, which include pure-play ESG specialists, in Australia and New…

Manufacturers and super funds alike need to do more on the burning issue of retirement products. So far, they’ve failed to innovate. A full generation of superannuants are about to enter the decumulation phase, with little idea about what to do with the nestegg they’ve built up. And despite the new retirement income covenant, superannuation…

BNP Paribas is to lose its head of securities services for Australia and New Zealand and State Street is losing three senior executives in unrelated developments which emerged last week. David Braga, the chief executive of BNP Paribas Securities Services, Australasia, has resigned and will leave the organisation at Christmas. He is currently continuing at…

One clear message from this month’s COP26 climate meeting is that big investors – especially Australian investors – will not be waiting for politicians to lead the way with a response to the crisis. Institutional investors are now “moving to the point of implementation” of their sustainability strategies, according to global manager Ninety One, with…

The Australian financial regulator has urged institutional investors trading on the ASX to better prepare for future market blackouts in the wake of a meltdown on the exchange last November. In a new report charting a series of ASX operational incidents during the week starting November 16 last year, ASIC (chaired by Joe Longo, pictured)…