News

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…

BlueMark, an impact investment verification service provider, has launched a benchmark for tracking best practices in impact management. It is designed to root out impact washing. The global benchmark allows market participants to differentiate between impact ‘leaders’ and ‘learners’, the US-based BlueMark said last week (May 11). It is based on aggregated data and insights…

ANZ, ASB, AMP, Fisher and Mercer have all been dumped as the KiwiSaver default schemes following the latest government review. In a release last Friday (May 14), NZ Finance Minister, Grant Robertson, confirmed the default provider numbers would shrink to six with two new players – Smartshares and Simplicity – joining incumbents Westpac, BNZ, Booster…

Club Plus Super, the NSW-based industry fund representing primarily the employees of licensed clubs, has elected AustralianSuper as its preferred merger partner. In a joint announcement last week (May 13), Stefan Strano, the chief executive of Club Plus, said that exploring a merger was in the best interest of members. The funds have signed a…

With increasing pressure for diversity among boards of directors and scrutiny by regulators, shareholders and their agents, spare a thought for the question of director capabilities. The Actuaries Institute dissected whether there was “an issue around the skills required to be a director”, in a plenary session last week (May 12) at the actuaries’ summit…

Institutional investors are pushing companies for disclosures that clearly detail how climate-related risks impact the bottom line, according to a new global survey. The sixth annual Institutional Investor Survey carried out by specialist consultancy firm Morrow Sodali confirmed environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are now firmly entrenched across industry practices. Almost 100 per cent…