Analysis

Martin Currie, the global equities manager, has published a new report on ESG issues, which will become a regular publication, complementing the firm’s other papers and client notes related to the subject. The first edition is focused primarily on climate change, which a majority of clients have said is their main long-term worry in the…

New Zealand ethical investing analysis website Mindful Money has channelled about NZ$10 million (A$9.7 million) into its approved KiwiSaver funds over the last 12 months. In a new report published last week, Mindful Money says it “has set a target of NZ$50 million for year two”. “Anecdotal evidence from investors and fund providers suggests that…

Schroders has had a good-size presence in Australia for a long time, since the 1960s in fact, with investment banking first, and, more importantly in the past 50-or-so years, funds management. The family controlled British company dates back to the first half of the 19th century. But it is not set in its ways. Private…

Perhaps a major risk for media outlets is to spend too much time examining the risks associated with COVID-19 and not enough time on everything else going on in the world, which is analogous with the Portfolio Construction Form search for the “next big shock” (report this edition). Research Affiliates has done an analysis of…

It is clear that COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on the way that all businesses, including funds management and wealth management, will operate beyond when, hopefully soon, the pandemic has abated. One of the impacts will be to accelerate the use of digital services. A new white paper, by digital player Infosys, has outlined…

Big investors seem reasonably sanguine about both their performance during the current market volatility and the outlook for markets generally over the next few months, according to a report by global manager search firm and investment advisor bfinance. The report was based on a survey, in June, of 368 of the largest pension funds in…

Investment organisations are not learning from their experience when it comes to improving investment committee (IC) practices and governance, according to new research from the ‘Thinking Ahead Institute’, a not-for-profit member group linked to Willis Towers Watson. The research, ‘Going from Good to Great‘, identifies the aircraft industry’s structured-learning environments as one for pension funds…

Two studies published in the past month have shed light on both the latest rankings, by assets, and how Sovereign Wealth Funds are investing those assets. Unlike many big pension funds, there is a big disparity in the cultures of sovereign funds and their investment styles. The definition of ‘sovereign wealth fund’ could also be…

Around every corner of Australia’s roughly $3 trillion in super industry assets, you’ll find a forecaster, says one of the industry’s leading researchers, Raewyn Williams. Investment teams forecast market direction, engagement teams forecast new member flows and finance teams forecast what seem to be the regulators’ favourite topic: fund fees and other costs. “But where…

Until a few years’ ago, multi-asset managers were consistently delivering reliable returns with good downside awareness. However, from 2018 there was a noticeable shift towards persistent underperformance in relative-value multi-asset managers which was outside the range of expectations. Frontier Advisors has produced a paper analysing the shift in performance, underlying drivers and the way forward….

Comment by Greg Bright Liberal backbenchers Andrew Bragg, a Victorian-born NSW senator, and Tim Wilson, the member for Goldstein in Victoria and, interestingly, a former human rights commissioner, both appear hell-bent on destroying any chance of bipartisanship over Australia’s superannuation system. You could also say they both appear hell-bent on destroying the whole system. A…

In his annual detailed forecast of markets, managers – and their styles – which this year involves many uncertainties, Peter Warnes, Morningstar Australia’s head of equities research, told the firm’s clients to “remain cautious and increasingly vigilant”. While the current situation is different from anything seen in recent memory, there are insights to be gleaned…