Analysis

While most investment managers have worked hard at incorporating ESG philosophies into their investment processes in recent years, under the overarching aim of sustainability, marrying the practicalities with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is not as simple as it may seem. Martin Currie, a long-time advocate of the integration of ESG principles within…

Notwithstanding some macro concerns, particularly around inflation, two of GSFM’s Australian managers – both with long/short strategies – have painted a bright picture for 2021 and beyond for investors. Munro Partners and Tribeca Investment Partners, growth managers which delivered returns of about 18 per cent for their equities long/short funds in 2020, appeared unfazed in…

The latest research note from BlackRock predicts another “choppy ride” for markets in the first half of 2021 with coronavirus responses and US politics continuing as major influences. But the risk of inflation is “underappreciated”. Noting the markets had moved considerably since its annual predictions for the year ahead, published only last month (early December),…

David Brown, an experienced investment manager and fund CIO, plans to move from Melbourne to the idyllic island of Rarotonga for his new role, COVID restrictions permitting. He started this month as CIO of the NZ$189 million (A$176 million) Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund – a new position. A special focus of the position will…

Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham has called bubble on the longest bull market in history. In a searing client newsletter, ‘Waiting for the Last Dance’, Grantham says current market conditions that feature “extreme overvaluation, explosive price increases, frenzied issuance, and hysterically speculative investor behavior” bear all the hallmarks of a last-gasp bubble expansion. The founder of…

Just as when ESG under its various guises was in its infancy, so too impact investing has been struggling through a dilemma to do with classification and standards to help smooth the bumps in the sector’s growth path. The classification part of the problem, at least, now appears to have been solved. At a webinar…

Investors need to watch for a surge in poor governance practices by company boards and management under the veil of responding to the impact of COVID-19. The latest stewardship report of a major global manager, Dimensional Fund Advisors, warns of an increase in questionable corporate activity this year. Dimensional managed US$527 billion ($A685 billion), as…

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…

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:…