News

While factor investing has been taken up globally, it’s seen slower pickup in the highly concentrated Australian equity market. That’s starting to change. The success of traditional active management is mostly due to its exposure to the most common factors: value, momentum, quality, and low volatility. But while factor-based investing has become globally ubiquitous, challenges…

A profound shift in the investment environment demands a revolution – not an evolution – in thinking, according to Ruffer. It might be the only way to defy gravity. The analogy that Ruffer uses for investor behaviour over the last 40 years is that of crabs. The humble crustaceans evolved to fill their niche from…

David Atkin is to become the new chief executive of PRI, it was announced in London last night (November 1). He takes up the role on December 10 when fellow Australian Fiona Reynolds departs for home after nine years. Reynolds has just seen out a successful annual PRI conference and is remaining with the organisation…

IOOF has become the first external client for a new strategy from Nassau Private Credit, a US-based specialist global credit manager, with a US$50 million investment. The strategy invests in collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) focusing on ‘control equity’, mezzanine and debt tranches of third-party managed instruments. Nassau Private Credit has been represented in Australia by…

The premier newsletter in the institutional investment market space, Investor Strategy News (IS|N), has appointed Lachlan Maddock as editor, effective today. He replaces newsletter industry veteran and IS|N founder Greg Bright who will become Consulting Publisher across The Inside Network publications, and be a regular contributor. Bright, who founded IS|N a decade ago to fill a…

The Australian Alternative Investment Awards, held in conjunction with the Hedge Funds Rock charity fundraiser, will be proceed in-person this year after last year’s deferral to Covid-19 restrictions. The awards, which recognise the best alternative investment funds and asset managers in the Australian funds management industry, have a new addition in the form of the…

Global manager Ninety One has launched an index for sovereign bond investors which provides an independently verified assessment of alignment with the Paris Agreement on net zero. A feature of the index, the first of its kind, is that its inclusion of all major emerging markets, many of which are most impacted by both climate…

A significant chunk of super fund advertising could now be on ice, with APRA finding that marketing expenditure could not be shown to have improved members’ financial position. As stapling puts a nail in the coffin of default distribution, many of Australia’s biggest super funds have turned their attention to the dark art of advertising…

It’s probably too early to pick the winners in the transition to net-zero. But the lack of a solid plan at the Federal level is making things even more complicated. The interest in renewable energy has grown substantially over the past 18 months, and particularly in the leadup to COP26, where world leaders aim to…

Australia’s industry funds have launched a full-throated defence of their sector as the national default fund debate heats up. Politics and performance are both at stake. The idea of a national default fund is a bold one, and has been advanced a number of times over the 30-year history of compulsory superannuation in Australia. Its…

There’s perhaps only one thing more satisfying for the business people who run big funds management firms than organic growth, and that’s to reward the trust of long-term clients. Around the 10th anniversary of the Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets team, three of the crucial players behind the success of the strategy have reflected on…

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has taken out the PRI ‘Stewardship Initiative of the Year’ award for its campaign against Facebook, Alphabet and Twitter to monitor and delete hate speech. The award, handed down on October 20 at the organisation’s annual conference produced from London, followed the action taken by the NZ$59.8 billion, as of…