Analysis

COVID and politics dominated the specialist investment media this year, as they did with all media, but such topics are not necessarily the most widely read stories. Stories about people are more likely to inspire a reader to read. This is the final edition of the year. We will next publish on January 11, 2021….

Aviva Investors last week (November 30) launched an Australian-domiciled global equities fund for institutional investors, targeting alpha from companies that are either providing solutions to climate change or transitioning their business models for a low-carbon economy. The strategy is based on the firm’s European version of the fund. The Climate Transition Global Equity Fund, which…

Australia and New Zealand have scored the highest in the latest annual ESG ratings by GRESB, the leading data collector and assessment organisation for property and infrastructure. ‘Oceania’ was first, followed by Asia, then Europe, then the ‘Americas’. GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) says in its annual global real estate assessment, published in Amsterdam…

When David Elia organised a takeout of 36 member services people from SuperPartners in 2008 to build Hostplus’s own service department, it caused a minor furore around Casselden Place, then home to some of Australia’s biggest industry funds. But times have changed. With the outsourcing of what is now a 100-person team to Hostplus’s new…

Australia’s asset servicing market has broadened to such an extent that to call it ‘custody’ no longer does it justice. Its evolution over the past three decades, culminating in a deft handling of the pandemic’s impact, has left modern-day custodians in their strongest position ever. This, perhaps dramatic, view does not come from the custodians…

Early research on ethnicity as well as gender by Willis Towers Watson should significantly broaden the discussion about potential economic benefits from improved diversity among boards and management at super funds, corporates and other organisations. In the first public airing of its latest thoughts on what it terms ‘cognitive diversity’, Willis Towers Watson (WTW) says:…

Research Affiliates, US-based global quant manager which has established offices in Sydney and Melbourne in the past couple of years, has called for compulsory changes in the way companies report carbon emissions to assist the investment world make more informed decisions about responses to the impact of climate change. Vitali Kalesnik, partner and European director…

About half of institutional asset owner costs get lost in the wash, according to a new study by CEM Benchmarking. An analysis of 24 large global asset owners representing over US$4.4 trillion found 49 per cent of investment costs were unreported. “Our research indicates that, at best, only half of true total investment management costs…

Australia has a long way to go to catch up to its major trading partners in its planned spend on new infrastructure, notwithstanding Prime Minister Morrison’s pledge of $100 billion over the next 10 years. This should be something for investors to savour, as well as those who benefit from the multiplier effect for employment….

Almost all fund managers have adopted some form of environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis to enhance research but its influence on real investment calls remains unclear, according to a new Russell Investments global survey. The Russell 2020 ESG study, which tapped the views of more than 400 asset managers in most regions including Australia…

Central bank largesse lubricated the relatively squeak-free ride of the global asset management industry through the COVID-19 crisis to date, but liquidity risks remain high, according to a new Amundi Asset Management report. In a ‘blue paper’ published last week, Amundi says only 117 out of the 35,000 funds sold in Europe froze redemptions since…

As super funds still struggle to build and manage their own better pension products, conscious of the ticking demographic clock, one of the key aspects to doing so will be the establishment of the most appropriate benchmark. Parametric runs through the possibilities. In a brief research note, ‘Income Targeting in a Retirement Portfolio – too…