Analysis

Australian super funds can probably learn a bit about retirement from the tiny, adaptable Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund. And a host of Pacific funds are also working on their own collaborative approach to investing in the region.

The passive versus active debate rages on, but it turns out that active management is worth something after all: 16 basis points per year, to be exact.

The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) moved into trend-following and struck a real asset deal with a Dutch pension giant among a dozen new external mandates inked last year.

Neurodiversity is poorly understood in the world of finance. Women in Super and neurodiversity advocates are pushing for that to change.

Big and small funds alike can do well for their members, and what’s more important than size is how they use it. But the risks of having a highly concentrated industry have been “underplayed”, according to ANU academic Geoff Warren.

Australian institutional investors are plotting increased allocations to alternatives and rethinking geopolitical risk, according to Nuveen.

Investors holding out for a monetary policy hero will have to keep holding out. And as regulators put out spot fires in the global banking system, they’ll need to reckon with the new behemoths they’ve made.

Garry Weaven’s collected writings offer a fascinating history of both the industry fund movement and one of its key architects – and a warning not to stick with the pack.

As hot air escapes the developed markets, unloved and unglamorous emerging markets are in the box seat once more. This time, it’s about more than the growth story.

There’s too many associations around, and the proposed tie-up between the AIST and ISA could bring super closer to a single voice at a time when it needs it more than ever. The problem is what that voice might say.

It isn’t 2008 all over again, but dismissing the broader risks of SVB’s demise would be a mistake for investors, writes Ruffer CIO Henry Maxey.

Systemic risk is difficult for investors to grasp because it’s no big deal – until it is. And unless investors adopt a “vastly different” mindset about pricing, it’s going to get a lot worse.