Analysis

Big pension funds are looking to put on a good show prior to policy maker announcements at the increasingly anticipated COP26 United Nations climate change conference in Glasgow starting November 1. The UN PRI and London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) co-hosted a global webinar this month (March 11) for more than 2,000 asset owners and…

As Sunsuper and Qsuper took another step forward in their proposed merger last week, the biggest hurdle, negotiating with the Queensland Government, appears to have been cleared. Now for the investments issue. The two funds, one trying to be truly national and the other strongly tied to its Queensland public service membership core, announced their…

This is not another ‘now is the time for value’ story. Really. Perhaps the unique nature of the market’s record run in growth over value has been to do with our definition of value. Here are some alternative thoughts. According to a paper from Amundi Asset Management, ‘Do Not Give Up on Fundamental Valuations’, Investors…

Australian company directors should be doing more to ensure their executives stick to the ethical values espoused at board level if they want to avoid a repeat of the poor behaviours exposed at the Hayne Royal Commission. A ‘Dialogue’ paper, published by the Actuaries Institute but representing the views of the author, Barry Rafe, identifies…

In the face of an ever-increasing wave of issues surrounding culture within funds management businesses, Frontier has become more aggressive in its approach to assessing culture within the businesses managing its client funds. Frontier, which advises on about $450 billion, has always assessed and considered culture within the context of developing manager ratings and recommendations,…

Kate Farrar, the chief executive-elect for the combined LGIAsuper and Energy Super, says the funds are looking to build something that’s a bit different – “a boutique at scale”. “Both funds had the same strategy going into this,” she said after her role was announced last week (March 8), to take effect on July 1…

Fossil fuel investments held by the world’s largest fiduciary funds – sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds – have risen to their highest level since 2011, according to a report by SWF Global. The State-Owned Investor (SOI) data collected by the US-based organisation for its March quarter report, show fossil fuel assets jumped in…

Last year’s early release scheme for super fund members was a major event for both members and their funds, according to a report by advisory firm EY. For many funds it was an opportunity, too, which was largely missed. The EY report and short video, ‘Rethinking Member Engagement’, says: “As a result of the Government’s…

Insight Investment has put the case for active asset allocation for investors over the market cycle, but especially now when both traditional defensive and growth assets are at troubling levels. In a webinar last week (February 25), Bruce Murphy, the Australia and New Zealand country head for Insight, a BNY Mellon company, said that there…

US markets could halve settlement times by 2023 in a move aimed at dramatically cutting margin costs and reducing risk, according to financial infrastructure provider The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). The DTCC proposal released in the wake of the GameStop brouhaha that highlighted margin bottlenecks in the system would see US securities trading…

Michael Power, the high-profile head of strategy for global fund manager Ninety One – formerly Investec Asset Management – presided over a research project last year, called ‘The Road to 2030’. He now says: “2030 is closer than you think.” Power spoke at an investor webinar last month (February 16) in which he laid out…

The major asset servicing firms are widening their field of vision and have, for the most part, become front-to-back-office providers, as middle-office outsourcing becomes ubiquitous for big investors and managers. It is a development which has taken place concurrently with tightening revenue streams among asset managers, which are often under the same ownership umbrella as…