News

Mingshi Investment Management, a staff-owned Shanghai-based China ‘A’ shares specialist, has opened an Australian office with the recruitment of experienced marketer Michael Negline. Mingshi is unusual in several respects. It was founded by two academics, professors Yu Yuan and Robert Stambaugh, who met at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. It is a…

The long-awaited mega-merger between two global financial services giants, Aon and Willis Towers Watson, has hit a major snag as the US Department of Justice moved to block the transaction. In a statement last week (June 16), the Department of Justice (DOJ) says it had “filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today to block Aon’s [US]$30…

The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors has found that company boards are failing to address sexual harassment despite the issue surging in importance through 2020. ACSI surveyed 118 S&P/ASX 200 companies and conducted in-depth interviews with representatives of 16 of them, finding “a range of maturity” across respondents in managing the material risk of sexual…

Evergreen Ratings has singled out the iPartners for wholesale investors for providing ‘appropriate’ liquidity in an inherently illiquid private debt market. In its latest ratings for the burgeoning private debt asset class, where non-institutional products are starting to take hold for smaller investors, the new ratings service which concentrates on alternatives offerings for wholesale, has…

The main focus for ESG investors, as with many of world’s policy makers and influencers, over recent years has been on the ‘E’. The ‘S’, though, is far from forgotten. The impact of climate change and the measures aimed at achieving net zero carbon emissions will also cause massive disruptions to societies as a whole,…

Martin Currie has launched an inhouse institute to broaden research and the exploration of ideas around asset management stewardship. Super funds and other clients will have input into the topics studied. The global equities manager, a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, has about US$22 billion (A$28.5 billion) under management across various products, including a big Australian…

With the passage of Your Future Your Super through the Senate, the Morrison Government won a key victory against the superannuation industry. A bigger fight looms over the scheduled SG increase. While it wasn’t quite the utter dismemberment faced by the Government’s industrial relations Bill in April 2021, the YFYS reforms were significantly altered by…

Little known in the broader Australian market, GQG Partners has become a manager of choice for some of the country’s largest investors. The firm is preparing for a push into the wholesale market. When talking to GQG, the name of CIO and founder Rajiv Jain is always a part of the conversation. He and co-founder…

Fiona Reynolds is coming home for good. A visit back to Australia last summer, extended because of covid-19, was not enough. The former chief executive of AIST, who stepped up big time to take the top job at UN PRI in London in 2013, announced last week (June 7) her intention to retire once a replacement…

Chris Mather, head of platforms distribution at BT Financial, and Adele Welsh, head of marketing at Praemium, took out the top two personal awards at last week’s MAX Awards. The annual super and investment industry sales and marketing achievement awards night, held in Sydney on June10, attracted a record attracted a record 17,000 votes, according…

Prospects for private markets, including real estate and venture capital, are as bright, or brighter, than they are for the public markets in China, according to a PGIM investor event. The US$1.5 trillion global manager, the investment management arm of the Prudential insurance group of the US, held its annual China Investment Symposium, virtually, on…

The discussion about the best way to build and manage an appropriate exposure to China is becoming more urgent. Mercer has helped investors with some new research. In a paper entitled: ‘Positioning Your Portfolio for the Future of Emerging Markets – the case for a dedicated China equity allocation’ the global advisory and funds management…