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AvSuper has appointed a new global manager, US-Based Hardman Johnston, in a mandate which shifts its portfolio towards the growth end of the spectrum. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors has been one of the best-performing managers in its category for more than 10 years. The $2 billion aviation industry fund, which speaks for about 6,500 members,…

This year’s FEAL conference theme proved prescient when chosen, what seems a long time ago, in February. The theme was: ‘Resilience: How to Survive and Thrive in a Time of Disruption’. With a bit of luck, the organisation is showing similar foresight in announcing that the postponed annual members’ dinner will take place on November…

Investment organisations are not learning from their experience when it comes to improving investment committee (IC) practices and governance, according to new research from the ‘Thinking Ahead Institute’, a not-for-profit member group linked to Willis Towers Watson. The research, ‘Going from Good to Great‘, identifies the aircraft industry’s structured-learning environments as one for pension funds…

FNZ, the company which brought new-age investment options to Australia’s largest super funds, could be forced to sell down its acquired Australian software firm, GBST, by November 19, after the takeover was deemed anti-competitive by a UK regulator. In a decision handed down last week, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled the $260 million-plus…

by Greg Bright Franklin Templeton announced its new leadership team last week, including the important Australasian and APAC parts of the business, prior to the official completion on July 31 of the takeover of Legg Mason, the global multi-affiliate manager. Now, the hard work begins. Multi-affiliate managers tend to be a different breed to traditional…

In a regular series of presentations on the state of play in their markets by its affiliated managers, GSFM has demonstrated the diversification advantages that multi-affiliate funds management businesses have over their single-manager counterparts. The aim, as obvious as it sounds, is to have more winners than losers at any particular time. Damien McIntyre, the…

Two studies published in the past month have shed light on both the latest rankings, by assets, and how Sovereign Wealth Funds are investing those assets. Unlike many big pension funds, there is a big disparity in the cultures of sovereign funds and their investment styles. The definition of ‘sovereign wealth fund’ could also be…

As the ‘S’ in ‘ESG’ is becoming increasingly important for big super funds and other fiduciary investors, the generally illegal activity known as ‘Modern Slavery’ in most countries, including Australia and New Zealand, has shown up the difficulties in finding out about and addressing bad behaviour down the supply chain. This is bad behaviour and…

Around every corner of Australia’s roughly $3 trillion in super industry assets, you’ll find a forecaster, says one of the industry’s leading researchers, Raewyn Williams. Investment teams forecast market direction, engagement teams forecast new member flows and finance teams forecast what seem to be the regulators’ favourite topic: fund fees and other costs. “But where…

Cbus Super’s new chief executive will be Justin Arter, a former Australia country head for BlackRock and a former UK head of institutional business for that manager. Perhaps more importantly for his new role, Arter is also a former chief executive of VFMC, the Victorian Government-owned manager, which has a similar culture to that of…

by David Chaplin Fintech enthusiasts have until this week to lob in an offer for the Australian and New Zealand arms of collapsed German online payments firm Wirecard. The company has been labelled the biggest failure for investors’ due diligence in recent memory, according to global due diligence specialist Castle Hall. It has the dubious…

Constructing a diversified portfolio of different managers and strategies requires an understanding of how each relates to the others in different market conditions. Strategies which cluster together, in terms of having a positive correlation, should receive a smaller allocation in a diversified portfolio than those which don’t cluster. Those which help diversification should be allocated…