Analysis

The last nine years of government have been characterised by a deep-seated suspicion of the country’s largest investors. But with Labor back in power, the super wars are almost certainly over.

Instead of blindly following active share and concentrated portfolio trends to bolster pride in the face of an overwhelming shift to passive strategies, active managers need to develop a much deeper understanding of what drives their performance, according to JANA.

Institutions have another reason to resist the siren song of cryptocurrencies, with new research from PGIM refuting many of the arguments in favour of holding the highly volatile asset class.

As the emerging markets grow more economically and financially liberal, managers are unlocking a “panoply” of opportunities outside the traditional darlings of the asset class.

Once a stalking horse for a small cabal of noisy backbenchers, “Home First, Super Second” has found its way into the Coalition’s policy arsenal ahead of an unpredictable election.

The emissions intensity of the ASX has some investors with a home country bias looking for an exclusionary approach. But decarbonising Aussie equities isn’t as simple as ditching them.

As the super funds race towards massive size, the sector is still grappling with the positives and negatives for investments and culture.

A survey of 50 global pension funds shows that many are losing hope of achieving their net-zero goals, and the sector is still “in the foothills” of the transition.

While the media they use have been in a state of constant disruption for at least 25 years, the noble arts of sales and marketing remain steadfast in pursuit their goals. Next month’s MAX Awards will tell us how they are faring.

There’s not much growth ahead of the large-caps that have dominated indices for the last decade, and long-suffering small- and mid-caps (SMIDs) present an obvious answer for returns.

Big super’s long march toward the future will be fruitful. But adopting the Canadian Model of pension management means coming to grips with the dual questions of legitimacy and governance.

AMP Capital is effectively no more, sold off to a menagerie of domestic and international managers. But the challenge of turning AMP around has barely begun. The wretched story of AMP’s attempts to spin off its asset management arm, AMP Capital, has perhaps commanded more attention than even the savaging the wealth business received during…