News

The top 15 super funds all managed to eke out positive returns in the year to June, limping across the line after the most volatile period for markets since the global financial crisis. The top 10, eight of which were not-for-profit funds, ranged between 3.8 per cent and 0.8 per cent for the 12 months….

by David Chaplin BlackRock institutional investors piled out of index fixed income strategies during the June quarter in favour of an active approach to the asset class. According to the BlackRock June quarter results, institutional investors withdrew a net US$10.7 billion (A$15.3 billion) from index fixed income funds while adding almost US$5 billion (A$7.15 billion)…

David Bryant formally entered the Mercer stable last week as chief executive for Australia and Pacific zone leader in a move announced this March. He has a mandate to “advance the firm’s leadership position across Australia and New Zealand”, according to a Mercer release last week. He reports to David Anderson, Mercer international region president….

by Greg Bright In one of the most stunning corporate failures in recent years, the big German payments fintech company Wirecard AG went into liquidation late last month and is now subject to fraud investigations, including money laundering and even dealing in the armaments trade. It is the first DAX 30 index stock – Germany’s…

The human impact of isolation to protect oneself, one’s family, and the community against COVID-19 has prompted investors to pause and re-think their portfolios on several levels. Real estate exposure is a logical place to revisit as the pandemic has accelerated some trends and hastened others that were already underway. According to Heitman LLC, the…

Australia’s $20 billion green bonds market is coming of age, having spawned the first managed fund dedicated to the asset sub-class. Australian Unity launched an institutional-grade unlisted unit trust last month, managed by its in-house cash and fixed interest team Altius, with three cornerstone investors to give it a start-up funds under management figure of…

While China has been a standout country for the adoption of online consumer purchases for several years, the trend has accelerated during COVID-19 and other emerging markets, such as Brazil, have taken a “huge leap forward”, according to Martin Currie. Much of the new ground will remain after normalisation. In an online discussion between Kim…

Stephen Miller, investment strategist for multi-affiliate manager GSFM, has taken an interesting line in a note to clients on why the Reserve Bank of Australia should not, and probably won’t, follow some other countries into negative interest rate territory. The possibility of funds managers and other financial institutions “hoarding” physical cash is a potential unintended…

Market crises tend to come along a lot more often than you think. Sometimes, as with the market slump due, primarily, to the ‘trade wars’, starting in late in 2018 last year, between the US, China, Mexico and, even, Canada, you don’t even think about it as a crisis. But that market slump was greater…

Total global hedge fund capital fell below US$3.0 trillion (A$4.32 trillion) in the March quarter for the first time since 2016, as financial market volatility surged on uncertainty and increased risks driven by the global coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest global report by Hedge Fund Research of the US. Outflows of US$33 billion (A$47.5…

After more than 30 years of arguments among and between fund managers, academics and, even, regulators, the passive versus active debate may wax and wane but it remains unresolved across the broad investor audience. In a timely paper, Wellington Management has listed seven concerns about “the push for passive”. The consensus about current market conditions…

by Greg Bright When Research Affiliates set up an Australasian office in mid-2018, it probably knew it would cause a stir. It agreed for Australian Mike Aked to go home to Melbourne to set up the new business. He is country head and head of research and strategy. He was the former head of asset…