News

The voices of women are swelling to a national rallying cry for justice and equality, Kara Keys, the chair of Women in Super, told sold-out lunches for the organisation last week. The guest speaker told them how to join in that cry. Keys, a trustee of Cbus and director of AIST, was introducing one of…

Chant West’s 2021 Super Fund Awards will be held, live and in person, at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney on the evening of May 26, it was announced last week. The Chant West Awards, an important black-tie event in the institutional investment world’s annual calendar, were held virtually last year, along with most other industry…

In the face of a surge of interest among institutional investors in the carbon management of their portfolios, asset consultancy Frontier has explored ways asset owners can take a top-down approach to carbon exposure to work with more obvious bottom-up strategies. Most asset owners now actively manage their exposures to climate change risks within their…

NSW Treasury Corporation, the state government’s $105 billion investment management offshoot, has commenced a restructure among its investment professionals, with 12 positions recently being advertised. The positions, which report up to previously announced heads of department, have been posted in the careers section of the TCorp website, with nine of the 12 being re-posted last…

NAB Asset Servicing is expected to be confirmed as the asset servicing partner of the combined LGIAsuper and Energy Super following competitive pitches between the incumbents of both funds. Thomas Murray was adviser to the new $20 billion fund. The win is a major victory for NAB Asset Servicing (NAS). It is the biggest contested…

The Australasian asset management industry has received a gender diversity boost this week with the launch of a new high-profile group looking to grow the influence of women in the sector. According to a release, the Australia and NZ chapter of the Bloomberg Women’s Buy-side Network (BWBN) “aims to inspire next generation investors, elevate female…

The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has put new money in two US alternative asset strategies including a hedge fund operated by legendary firm Citadel and a direct private equity play in the communications infrastructure market.

Fullgoal Asset Management, one of China’s first fund managers to attract offshore shareholders, is widening its international distribution base. It has joined with third-party marketing firm 3PD for Australasia. A subsidiary of Shanghai-based Fullgoal Fund, which was established in 1999 and has about US$151 billion (A$195 billion) under management, as at December last, Fullgoal has…

Mantis Funds, Australia’s latest multi-affiliate manager, launched last year by Timothy Cheung and Damien Hatfield, has strengthened its governance alongside its fund manager portfolio. Rodney Green, a founder of what is now known as Pacific Current Group, a pioneer in the multi-affiliate space, is to join the board of Mantis Funds. As co-founder and managing…

Even a passive portfolio consisting entirely of Aussie equities can provide some of the defensive and yield-bearing characteristics that retirees usually need with a couple of smart-beta-type tilts. The latest short research note from Parametric, the implementation-focused manager, examines what such a strategy, which it calls ‘Keep Calm and Carry On Investing’ would have done…

Hyperion Asset Management is Morningstar’s ‘Fund Manager of the Year’ as well as the top Australian large and small-cap manager, it was announced at the annual awards gathering on Friday night (February 26). A contender with Morningstar for the past three years in a row, the manager has already picked up the Money Magazine ‘Best…

Fund managers have enjoyed a strong bounce in fund flows, according to Morningstar data, and these flows are continuing in the first quarter of the year. In a webinar for clients last week (February 23), Grant Kennaway, Morningstar’s Melbourne-based director of research, said that while 2020 had been a difficult year for fund managers, it…