News

BNP Paribas Securities Services, with US$10.6 trillion in assets under custody, has started to use ‘Natural Language Generation’ (NLG) to help its global custody clients enhance monitoring and oversight of their operations. The new reporting is being rolled out globally, starting in Europe and the UK. As part of its digital transformation program, BNP Paribas…

A fertiliser industry body has won the right to butt into a looming legal action between the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) and a Western Sahara political activist. In a ruling handed down in the Auckland High Court last Friday (June 12), Justice Palmer agreed the Fertiliser Association of NZ could ‘intervene’ in the case brought…

Schroders Australia will bolster its multi-asset team with Angus Sippe set to join as portfolio manager in the September quarter. Schroders deputy head of multi-asset, Simon Stevenson, announced his retirement last week after 13 years with the global investment firm. Stevenson will officially retire at the end of 2020, Schroders multi-asset head, Simon Doyle, confirmed…

by Greg Bright Morningstar Australia and New Zealand presented its view of the world going forward in a webinar last week (June 4) together with that of two funds managers. Several good tips emerged, such as a strong buy on gold, but the combined view was not so clear. The prospect of a return of…

IRESS, the listed global financial services software and admin company, is to take over OneVue, the diversified Australian platform, admin and registry company under a scheme of arrangement. The deal gives the expansive IRESS a greater presence in the super industry in Australia. Apart from having the largest third-party registry offering, OneVue also has about…

Labelling it ‘State Street Alpha’, the big asset servicing and fund management firm, which purchased the global financial software company Charles River Development in 2018, has embarked on a journey to be the leading provider of asset intelligence to the owners and managers of the world’s capital. According to Sinclair Scholfield, State Street’s Sydney-based head…

In a nutshell, what happens next is likely to be de-globalisation, therefore lower profitability of companies. In the past 10 years, share buybacks have accounted for more than 50 per cent of returns. That phenomenon has halted. Lots of other things aren’t coming back anytime soon either, except, perhaps, inflation. According to Ruffer LLP, a…

Chant West Holdings, the listed company for the Chant West investment research firm, has reached an agreement to sell ‘Enzumo’, a software business which gave Chant West access to the listed market. The buyer is financial planning dealer group Centrepoint Alliance. The price appears healthy in the current climate. Centrepoint Alliance is a leading provider…

The annual Australian Alternative Investment Awards, held in conjunction with Hedge Funds Rock, an important annual fund raiser for a variety of charities, will go ahead on, or near, the pre-ordained date of September 10. Given the crisis, this year’s awards and the fund raiser are more important than ever. Kim Ivey, chairman of the…

First Sentier, the former Colonial First State Global Asset Management, has strengthened its international management with the creation of several senior global roles. This follows the acquisition of the manager by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group last year. The business, under Mark Steinberg, the chief executive, and Yutaka Kawakami, the deputy chief executive, has established a…

Brian Delaney, a stalwart of the institutional funds management industry and an executive director and global head of client solutions and capital at QIC, has confirmed he will retire at the end of the year. His successor, Ravi Sriskandarajah, who is almost as well-connected, was announced last week. Delaney, who has been in the industry…

Listed infrastructure and property funds failed to live up to their safe-haven reputations during the recent market slump, a recent Makao Investments analysis found. The study says the relative underperformance of the two sectors over March and April highlights why investors should not conflate income with low risk. “Both listed infrastructure and listed property were…