News

The theme for this year’s Chant West Awards is ‘resilience’. With the big challenges largely thrust upon them – regulatory changes, political sniping and the COVID crisis – the last year has probably been the toughest ever for super funds. A casual observer of the industry, getting most of his or her information on changes…

“They did what they have always set out to do. They helped their members to achieve a good outcome. And they came to the party at a time it was important to do so,” said Ian Fryer as he oversaw judging of the Chant West Awards for 2021. Speaking last week (April 7) as funds…

Global investors have poured a record amount into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during the first two months of 2021, according to industry data. UK-based consultancy firm ETFGI clocked about US$222.5 billion (A$288 billion) of net flows into the sector globally over January and February, over twice the figure for the same period in 2020, the Financial…

The NZ Superannuation Fund has won a landmark court case that could set a high bar for activist legal challenges to its investment decisions. Any action jeopardising New Zealand’s reputation was deemed most important. In the ruling handed down in the Auckland High Court this month (March 17), Justice Woolford dismissed the move by Fadel…

As Ninety One, the former Investec Asset Management, celebrates its first year as an independently listed company, the Australian operation has also demonstrated one of the many advantages of that independence. The global parent investment bank, still the major shareholder in the global asset management firm, last week confirmed the sale of its Australian loan…

Once upon a time, in the 1980s, Australia was a world leader in the provision of systems to allow the development of master trusts and better efficiencies for advisers. Then the banks took over. Now, according to Wealth02 director Darren Pettiona, the US is “way ahead of Australia in fintech”. But that is about to…

While tactical asset allocation strategies have had a long history in Australia, their newish incarnation, as global macro funds, have tended to go in and out of fashion in step with market jitters. The current volatility is good news. Starting with separately managed accounts in 2017 and launching a fund in April 2019, boutique manager…

Mine Super has taken a big step towards commercialising its majority interest in Recreo Financial, the administration systems provider it partnered with in 2015. It has been a rocky road for many of the participants. Recreo is to merge with two complementary businesses acquired by Certane, a new market player that bought the remnants of…

The IFAA Group has seen almost immediate success with new business from several sources, notwithstanding its recent acquisition by Auckland-based administration and consulting firm MMC. Neil Harvey, IFAA Group’s managing director, said last week that recent wins for the group were the reappointment late last year as fund administrator for Gardior and a new appointment…

APRA’s proposed changes to the regulation known as SPS250 will mean all super funds will have to fundamentally challenge the nature of their existing insurance partnerships by widening the notions of priority and privilege. The changes will alter the competitive landscape. In 2020, APRA amended this core superannuation standards to address a recommendation from the…

Harvey Kalman, the global head of business development for fund services at Equity Trustees and key business driver for many years, has resigned, seeking a new yet-unknown challenge. Kalman, 54, has been with Equity Trustees since January 2000 and for the past three years has expanded his role to include additional responsibilities as managing director…

While many investors are watching the overall rotation of growth versus value – is it really a rotation? how long will it last? – there are various tilts to value which are also worth watching. One such tilt is a portfolio of stocks constructed with high dividend yields in mind, such as that offered by…