Analysis

by Greg Bright A move away from the reliance on traditional strategic asset allocation as the overarching strategy for big investors and towards the use of a ‘total portfolio approach’, will deliver an additional return of between 0.5 and 1.0 per cent a year, according to new research. Roger Urwin, Global Head of Investment Content…

The world economy is teetering on a knife edge: the Chinese and Indian economies were slowing even before the COVID-19 Coronavirus, and as Australia was recovering from one of its worst bushfires.

On a day of celebration for the late Mavis Robertson’s achievements in the advancement of women in the super industry, along with her many other achievements, today (March 2), Morningstar is publishing a report on the progress of gender diversity in the industry over the past 20 years. In a nutshell: it’s zero progress. The…

A group of three big global managers has linked up to promote the benefits of active management in Australia and New Zealand, ahead of what is generally expected to be a sharemarket correction sometime soon. Active managers have been through a rough time in the past two years. In the inevitable downturn, they should shine…

As a business evolves, one of the issues it must deal with is whether its branding adequately reflects product and service expansion over time. This is a question we have had to address at SuperAA (Superannuation Advisors Australia), a business that was launched in 2013 with the aim of offering SMSF audit services and technical support to accounting firms.

An often-expressed criticism of the ESG investing space, mainly by institutional investors, is the lack of robust benchmarks and/or ratings from independent bodies. ESG investing is complex. A new study by Research Affiliates indicates just how much work the industry needs to do to improve accountability. The study by Dr Feifi Li and fellow researcher…

AMP Capital, a big funds manager, has enjoined the asset servicing sector of the industry in seeking out opportunities for enhanced returns and better efficiencies through data analytics. Perhaps ironically, it’s the chair of the hedge fund group AIMA Australia – Alistair Rew – who is leading AMP’s charge in the field. Rew normally tends…

When Laurence Bailey, then head of Chase Manhattan (now J.P. Morgan) in Australasia, backed the embryonic Australian Custodial Services Association, formed by a former National Australia Bank asset services manager, John Gall, in 1996, he had some big aspirations. Gall was the first secretary of the nascent organisation and Bailey decided custodians deserved to make…

When blockchain burst into being more than 10 years ago it was heralded as the ultimate digital safe house for financial services (and everything else). But as a new report from global financial back-office giant Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) reveals, blockchain – also known as ‘distributed ledger technology’ (DLT) – is no set-and-forget…

The man who dealt with the SARS virus in China nearly two decades ago is “hopeful’ the coronavirus would be similarly dealt with by April. Investors and a lot of Australian and other business people will be hoping he’s right. But Zhong Nanshan is now 83 and still head of the National Health Commission team…

The private rental sector has expanded at more than twice the rate of the increase in Australian households in the last two decades. This increasingly diverse form of tenure now houses about one in four of us. 

by Greg Bright It’s difficult for investment managers right now. Most equity markets are fully valued, as are fixed income markets. In the fixed income and credit markets, the outlook is challenging. How can you have negative interest rates? So, what does a fiduciary investor, such as a big super fund, do? According to Mark…