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Culture is a “fascinating subject dripping with issues”, according to Roger Urwin, who first wrote about the power of culture for fiduciary investors and their managers in the 1990s, having established the asset consulting arm of Willis Towers Watson in 1989. He remains one of the most influential advisors to big funds in the world….

While an estimated four out of five big international investors, including Australian super funds, gain their China equities exposures through emerging markets (EM) strategies and funds, a new study by bfinance, the global research and mandates search firm, says that a single-country exposure to China is likely to deliver the best results. More big investors…

‘Week in China’, the HSBC-backed free weekly newsletter about investments, business and life in general on the mainland of China, celebrated its 500th issue late last month. Steve Irvine, founding editor, said: “When we were looking back it struck us that while we have talked about many of the key elements of China’s long history,…

There are lots of repercussions from the COVID-19 fallout which will stick for a long time for everyone, including managers of Australian equities. For the most part, according to Paul Xiradis, talking about the equities markets recently, they are more an acceleration of previous trends – either demographic or societal. Putting aside the daily Coronavirus…

For women in particular, but also for men, what sticks from the COVID-19 crisis, what are the potential silver linings to come out of the dark cloud, represent a chance to “bounce forward” rather than “bounce back” once it’s all over, according Margo Lydon. She was the presenter at last week’s (June 26) Women in…

by Greg Bright Media Super, formed in 1987 as JUST Super, was a pioneer among super mergers. It merged with the entertainers and actors’ fund, the interestingly named JEST, within a couple of years of formation. It then merged with Print Super, the printers and typesetters’ fund, several years later. Gerard Noonan, the longstanding Media…

The Australian Investment Council, the main body representing private equity managers and investors, has backed David Koch’s new fintech business, ‘ausbiz’, through a media partnership. Although best known as a successful television personality in Australia, ‘Kochie’ is also a serial entrepreneur. Ausbiz aims to connect investors with interesting investment opportunities, particularly in the private markets…

by David Chaplin A new Mercer study has identified an almost US$6.3 trillion annual “transformational investment” hole across six major global systemic trends. According to the Mercer report, produced on behalf of the World Economic Forum (WEF), “universal shareholders”, such as sovereign wealth funds, are well-placed to fill the transformational-investing void, earning higher returns and…

Russell Investments has embarked on a “massive study” on the lessons for active management in the pandemic era.  Dr Leola Ross, Russell investment strategy research director, told the group’s NZ virtual annual conference audience last week that all investors should review their market beliefs in the wake of COVID-19. “We’re figuring out our own expectations…

For years, venture capital has struggled to attract the attention of big, mainly not-for-profit, super funds. Highly innovative venture-backed companies represent where the money is, at least in the unlisted space. There are several reasons for the struggle. But now, thanks to COVID-19, the world has changed. The big funds are, at last, getting interested…

Australia is likely to be one of the first countries in the world whose stock exchange adopts distributed ledger technology (commonly known as ‘blockchain’). BNP Paribas Securities Services, which has been there from the start, intends to take a ‘node’ from day one and provide real-time data. A ‘node’ is just an information hub, allowing…

AXA Investment Managers, which has been in the sustainable investment space for many years, is ramping up its impact investing – the pointy end of ‘sustainable’ – which aims to make a difference to society while still turning a good profit. AXA IM has put its money where its mouth is with its fourth global…