News

The Fund Executives Association Ltd (FEAL), Australia’s peak professional development body for super fund executives, has appointed former QIC and AMP exec Brian Delaney as its new chair. Brian Delaney will take over as chair of FEAL on May 3, continuing a long association with the organisation that dates back to his establishing its Fund…

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has nabbed a new chair from outside the super sector. Gary Dransfield will step into the role of independent chair of ASFA on February 23, while current chair Dr Michael Easson will retire from the role. “We are very pleased to have secured someone from outside the…

Opposition to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s proxy advice reforms is growing, with one key Liberal senator questioning his use of the regulations power and warning of a possible disallowance. While not disagreeing with the reforms in principle, senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells – head of the standing committee for scrutiny of delegated legislation – questioned why Frydenberg had…

While some say Aoris is an “early Magellan”, chief investment officer Stephen Arnold has no intention of going down the same path that other Australian fund managers have taken. The problem that lies at the heart of active funds management is well-understood: very few will ever outperform the market over a long timeframe. It’s a…

The green boom has seen rife speculation on so-called sustainable companies without so much as a dollar to their name. Firetrail’s new global equities operation wants to find the ones with a few warts on them instead. “It’s all about finding tomorrow’s leaders,” says Justin Gray, one of three portfolio manager for Firetrail’s new S3…

Labor wants to “super-charge” the Australian economy by putting our largest pool of capital to work both at home and away. But on Your Future, Your Super, they won’t be throwing the baby out with the bath water. The Your Future Your Super (YFYS) reforms represent one of the most daring political plays by the…

Larry Fink wants to make capitalism a force for good. A new proxy advice initiative could be one step in the right direction. Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics,” writes BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in his 2022 letter to CEOs. in his  It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not “woke.” It is…

Chalk one up for the old guys: a new study has found that, where funds management is concerned, age is correlated with both performance and persistence. “The most consistent result from our estimates of the cross-sectional relationship between manager characteristics and manager skill… are that accumulated wisdom, however this is proxied, has a positive relationship…

Frontier Advisors has nabbed a contract with Western Australia’s Government Employee’s Superannuation Board (GESB). Frontier Advisors has won a $12.2 million multi-year contract with GESB, replacing incumbent consultant JANA Investment Advisers. Frontier will provide “tailored investment advice to help the Government Employees Superannuation Fund meet its investment objectives; insights on financial market opportunities and risks;…

As the retirement product race heats up in superannuation, funds and advisers need to confront a simple fact: people will live a lot longer than they think. Average life expectancy remains the main metric for determining the planning horizons for retirees. But research from the Actuaries Institute of Australia found that the tools used by…

Despite their surging popularity, risks lurk within illiquid assets that put member outcomes and portfolio quality at risk – and there’s little regulation for handling them. Illiquid assets – anything from infrastructure and commercial property to venture capital and private equity – are experiencing a surge in popularity as institutional investors face down a future…

Bronte Capital CEO John Hempton believes the ASX is a target-rich environment for short sellers, and that a potentially imminent “post-bubble environment” will bring better days for the fund. It’s been a tough few years for Bronte Capital, which – like many other hedge funds – has suffered from a period of pretty lacklustre returns…