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Current new growth areas for large investors tend to be in the ‘real’ investments space. If you overlay domestic versus international strategies on that, to accommodate the tendency for local bias, you come up with a trio of local industries which are standouts. They are tourism, direct property and smaller infrastructure projects. James Mawhinney, who…

When blockchain burst into being more than 10 years ago it was heralded as the ultimate digital safe house for financial services (and everything else). But as a new report from global financial back-office giant Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) reveals, blockchain – also known as ‘distributed ledger technology’ (DLT) – is no set-and-forget…

The man who dealt with the SARS virus in China nearly two decades ago is “hopeful’ the coronavirus would be similarly dealt with by April. Investors and a lot of Australian and other business people will be hoping he’s right. But Zhong Nanshan is now 83 and still head of the National Health Commission team…

by Greg Bright OneVue, the largest third-party retail unit registry provider in Australia, last week announced a takeover of its major advisory client, Madison Financial Group. Meanwhile, Link Group has strengthened its funds admin team with a senior hire from NAB. Coupled with Sargon’s troubles, this looks a lot like the sector is in play….

by Greg Bright It’s difficult for investment managers right now. Most equity markets are fully valued, as are fixed income markets. In the fixed income and credit markets, the outlook is challenging. How can you have negative interest rates? So, what does a fiduciary investor, such as a big super fund, do? According to Mark…

Asset servicing firms have always invested a mind-boggling amount of money into technology. Their big institutional investor clients have not always appreciated that time and money, though, it has to be said. But in the past two-three years, the interests of both clients and their big custodians have become more aligned. The experience of BNP…

by Wietske Blees* APRA’s ‘heatmap’ of MySuper performance numbers, published for the first time in December, will highlight the importance of investment implementation, experts have warned. The contentious move from the regulator will be discussed at a major industry conference in Sydney next month, with Deloitte providing interesting insights. As a discipline, investment implementation refers…

With both equities and fixed income markets looking like they are heading for a major correction pretty soon, the 17th annual AVCJ Private Equity and Venture Forum in Sydney, March 3-5, will be looking at how alternatives can protect super funds and other investors. The forum’s agenda boasts Peter Costello, the chair of the Future Fund…

For many super funds fixed income portfolios can be their poor cousins in terms of integrating hard-fought ESG principles. A recent study looks at how funds can go about amalgamating ESG and fixed income. John Streur, the chief executive of US-based ESG specialist Calvert Research & Management, is visiting Australia in March to address this…

Corporate loan and credit specialist Metrics Credit Partners has set sights on the NZ market with an Auckland office due to open shortly. Andrew Lockhart, Metrics managing partner, said last week that the move was a response to high demand in NZ for alternative fixed income investments. Lockhart said, in the current ultra-low interest rate…

AustralianSuper and QIC have become part of a select group of financial backers in an American funds manager which specialises in ‘sustainable’ infrastructure projects. The manager, Generate Capital, has secured a total of US$1.5 billion in a recent raising. Other investors in the raising include Railways Pension (of Canada) and Sweden’s AP2, according to a…

SuperRatings, the research house, said over the weekend that super funds had a positive start to 2020, with the median balanced option returning 1.9 per cent in January, driven predominately by gains from Australian and International shares. But, the Coronavirus emanating from China, has made February a lot more difficult in investment terms. Markets have,…