News

With home ownership still dominating the dinner table conversation, HOPE Housing is working towards getting super funds involved in a unique model that provides attainable housing to essential workers.

State Street has been appointed to provide custody and administration to the $32 billion superannuation fund, with its Brisbane presence one of the key factors in the win.

New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund has named the long-time head of its strategic tilting strategy to temporarily fill the gap left by departing chief investment officer Stephen Gilmore.

With more and more money to invest every year, the megafunds think their future lies offshore. That leaves plenty of homegrown opportunities for the likes of the $32 billion Brighter Super.

Local biotech VC firm Brandon Capital has scored investments from a number of super funds and semi-sovereign investors as it looks to expand its international presence and its support for domestic startups.

Megafunds might be thought of as lumbering beasts of the ASX, but taking advantage of market dislocations means moving pretty quickly. “Size, scale and power” in manager relationships helps.

The big institutional investors that have thrown their weight behind the transition can’t get enough wind and solar. But that means a lot of money is now chasing a small chunk of global emissions, according to Kerogen Capital.

KPMG’s latest Super Insights report shows the future shape that the industry might take, with distinct cohorts of funds now emerging across size and service. But there’s little positive sentiment to be found about funds online.

It’s been one of the most disappointing regions in the world in terms of performance, but Pzena Investment Management thinks China’s bombed-out equity market presents “a real win opportunity”.

The $10 billion ethical investor is “actively exploring” opportunities in growing sectors like water, wants to invest more in private debt and expects new issuance of government green bonds as the asset class sees a resurgence of interest.

The chief of BNP Paribas’ local securities services division expects that the period of heated competition that followed the exit of NAB Asset Servicing will continue, with custody banks leveraging their offshore footprints and private markets capabilities in the fight for new business.

While Australian Retirement Trust thinks massive scale makes offshore investing a must, not every fund wants to join the jet set, and UniSuper thinks there’s still plenty of opportunities to be had at home.