News

Super funds are under increasing pressure to do more on ESG but have been warned to keep their noses out of the climate debate. Super funds need to “close the gap” between commitment and implementation of ESG principles, with only a quarter of funds having a quantifiable performance target in place to ground the implementation…

Bfinance, the fund management search and research firm, has sounded a word of warning for big investors looking to select a manager for the burgeoning asset class of real estate debt. In a note to clients published last week (May 26), Trevor Castledine, bfinance senior director, private markets, says funds are using five key levers…

Aura Group, an alternatives and wealth manager with a strong presence in Asia, has opened its second venture capital fund to wholesale investors. Damien Hatfield, of Mantis Funds, is lending a hand. Tristan Terry, Sydney-based director of venture capital for Aura, says the target raising for the Aura Venture Fund II is $50 million, following…

In a year of bad-news headlines for the super industry, it was fitting that the biggest fund, the quintessential industry fund, took out the ‘Fund of the Year’ award from Chant West. AustralianSuper, the bellwether fund and champion of the not-for-profit sector, also won the ‘Best Fund of the Year: Investments’, an increasingly difficult task…

Nobody questions the need to fix super, although there appears little consensus on what needs to be changed and how. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s October “recovery” Budget delivered an unwelcome surprise to the $3 trillion super industry: a slew of reforms under the title ‘Your Future Your Super’ which could fundamentally alter retirement outcomes. The changes,…

Index operators could face tighter regulatory controls in the US after a major provider copped a multi-million dollar fine last week. In a settlement announced last Monday (May 17), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) US$9 million (A$11.6 million), alleging a hidden feature in one of the firm’s…

BNZ, NAB’s NZ subsidiary, has appointed State Street Global Advisors to replace Vanguard as its core international assets index manager among a raft of investment mandate changes. In disclosure documents filed last week (May 19), BNZ named SSGA to take over passive management duties from Vanguard in global equities and fixed income covering its KiwiSaver…

Treasury’s proposed changes to proxy voting advice have met with fierce resistance from Ownership Matters, which warned the reforms could have a chilling effect on corporate accountability in Australia. The reforms, which were proposed in the interests of “strengthening the transparency and accountability of proxy advice”, would require proxy advisers to provide their research to…

Chant West, scheduled to hold its annual awards dinner this Wednesday evening, May 26, has announced the 10 finalists in the last two categories decided upon – Best Fund: Innovation and Best Fund: Integrity. Two funds are in both categories. The finalists are: Best Fund: Innovation – Aware Super, QSuper and its proposed merger partner…

Big super funds are looking at permanent changes to their communications strategies, advice model, administration and general member experience as a result of covid-19. Intra-fund advice is high on the agenda. QSuper, a pioneer among super funds providing full financial planning services to members, refined its advice model early last year to focus on intra-fund…

The rhetoric was similar, though not quite as fiery. But the audience was different. A lot has changed since the first CMSF, held symbolically, in Wollongong. In 1990, Wollongong, NSW, was still referred to as the ‘steel city’. BHP had only begun to shut down its furnaces in Australia. Labor was in power federally and…

The annual MAX Awards returns to a live-action dinner format at Sydney’s Luna Park on June 10, and this masthead’s tips and comments also return to assist voters’ deliberations. The awards produced by Financial Standard, a part of Rainmaker Information,  mark the 26th year as the only awards which focus on marketing and sales achievements…