News

Commonwealth Superannuation Corp, the Federal Government’s $50 billion fund which accounts for 11 sub-funds and a total of 730,000 members, has become a ‘partner’ with the industry’s major mental health body, SuperFriend. There is no better time than now for the industry to support mental health initiatives. The big fund became the 24th super fund,…

Harvey Kalman, the long-time head of sales and business at Equity Trustees, has taken back all international responsibilities to cater for fund managers and other institutions looking for Australian trustee and admin services, as well as for Australian firms looking to expand offshore. “We’re now taking this to the next level,” he said last week…

Even though almost all asset services firms suffered declines in their assets under custody in Australia in the six months to June, J.P. Morgan managed to strengthen its position relative to the rest of the pack. It will increase this further soon when it implements the transfer of assets from new client CareSuper. The latest…

A year after it launched its first private companies fund – the ‘Perennial Private-to-Public Opportunities Fund’ – Perennial Value Management is set to launch a second similar closed-end fund for wholesale investors. The ‘Perennial Private-to-Public Opportunities Fund No.2′ will open tomorrow (September 1) and close October 2, with the goal of raising up to $125…

Rob Harrison, a well-known marketer of new funds management strategies in both Australasia and the US and Europe, who has been living in New York for several years, is bringing a hard-core ESG manager to Australia and New Zealand. He is being joined by Steve Larkin, a former colleague at BNP Paribas Investments in Sydney….

NGS Super, representing non-government schools, is a natural merger partner with the Sydney-based Australian Catholic Super (ACS), representing catholic schools, aged care facilities, hospitals and other bodies, according to Greg Cantor, the long-time chief executive of ACS, who has been nominated to lead the proposed new merged fund when they emerge from their due diligence…

After its formation late last year, Epsilon Direct Lending, a boutique manager focusing on a particular part of the burgeoning private debt asset class – the under-served $70 billion mid-market growth and event-driven financing space – is ready to go to the investment market with an institutional and wholesale fund The three founders of the…

John McNiven, an incredibly successful bond dealer across New York, London and Hong Kong, who always called Australia home, and became an incredibly successful entrepreneur in the global and local fixed income markets, passed away on August 13 after a four-year battle with cancer. He was 63. McNiven retained good friends all over the world…

Martin Currie, the global equities manager, has published a new report on ESG issues, which will become a regular publication, complementing the firm’s other papers and client notes related to the subject. The first edition is focused primarily on climate change, which a majority of clients have said is their main long-term worry in the…

The Actuaries Institute has been holding its annual conference over the past three weeks, as other big associations have done. A highlight during last week’s sessions was to do with workers’ mental health issues and what insurance companies are doing. It looks like progress is slow, notwithstanding all that we hear about what employers and…

We’ve all heard plenty of jokes about actuaries. “They’re like accountants but with less personality…” That sort of thing. According to Jas Singh, who works with a lot of actuaries, many of the jokes suggest they are naturally pessimistic. If that’s the case, right now, there is no choice but to be optimistic – in…

New Zealand ethical investing analysis website Mindful Money has channelled about NZ$10 million (A$9.7 million) into its approved KiwiSaver funds over the last 12 months. In a new report published last week, Mindful Money says it “has set a target of NZ$50 million for year two”. “Anecdotal evidence from investors and fund providers suggests that…