Analysis

(pictured: Dori Levanoni)  Whenever the US dollar spikes up or down investors around the world suddenly get interested in their currency exposures. Currency, it seems, is an after-thought asset class which happens to be, often, the first or second-biggest influencer of investment returns. That interest has been piqued right now. Dori Levanoni, a partner, investments,…

(pictured: Keri Pratt) By Keri Pratt* Australian asset managers exist in a superannuation ecosystem that is experiencing rapid or accelerated change (the ‘perfect storm’?) as a result of a range of factors and influences. These trends include: Regulatory change (increasing compliance costs, MySuper limitations and narrowed focus and now the Productivity Commission review) The arrival…

(pictured: Bill Miller and Ben Blanchett) by Patrick Liddy* The US fracking revolution has transformed the economics of oil and gas production globally. The US has become a bigger producer than Saudi Arabia and again becoming energy independent. These dynamics lower energy prices for the end user worldwide while driving a robust US economy. The geopolitical…

(pictured: Louis Kuijs) The currency investment decision for super funds is the biggest and, arguably, most difficult they have to make. The Australian dollar has had the largest depreciation of any Asia Pacific currency since mid-2014, benefitting most big funds. In a new study, Oxford Economics predicts the future for Asian currencies. According to the paper…

(pictured: Adrian Banner) Portfolio rebalancing has long been recognised as a way to add long-term value and maintain or improve diversification. However, it has always been difficult to measure its impact. Now, a US-based quant manager has applied to patent its algorithm for better performance attribution. Enhanced Investment Technologies (known as INTECH outside of Australia), an…

(pictured: Patrick Lemmens and Jeroen van Oerle)   To date it is the big banks which have invested most in the development of distributed ledger technologies, commonly known as ‘blockchain’. But uses other than streamlined payments are rapidly being explored. New research calmly examines the likely impact for all financial services players. The research, by investment…

(pictured: Damian Moloney)  Frontier Advisors is turning up the heat in the increasingly widespread debate about funds management fees, with its chief executive putting pen to paper for a thought-leadership piece which updates previous work by the asset consultancy. The latest paper, “Progressing a New Deal on Fees: Ideas for Institutional Investors” aims to: “Reiterate the…

(pictured: Pru Bennett)  In an increasingly risk conscious investing world ESG factors have come a long way since the mini-boom in ethical funds of the early 2000s. And, according to one of the most experienced investors in the field, Australia stands tall as a “mature” market for ESG and related practices. Pru Bennett, the Hong…

(pictured: Ian Silk) Comment by Greg Bright Quite possibly. AustralianSuper, the bellwether go-to and surprisingly innovative super fund, Australia’s largest and, arguably, best across a range of metrics, proved to all and sundry this week what can be achieved when you try. But maybe this is the time to also worry a little about the future…

(pictured: David Scobie) Investors should put more weight on alignment of interests when hiring or firing fund managers, according to a new Mercer report. And they should avoid changing managers wherever possible. While investors necessarily focus on a manager’s investment and operational strength, the study says the “often overlooked” alignment factor provides some important flow-on benefits. For…

(pictured: Craig Russ)  In uncertain times, such as these, investors have traditionally turned to the fixed interest market for their downside protection. But this time it really might be different. In the ‘new normal’ of low-to-zero-to-negative interest rates, investors may well be better off in the floating-rate debt market than taking on increasing duration –…

(pictured: Hugh MacNally)  Income and capital preservation are two of the main aims of many investors, especially retirees, but in recent months, with the drop-off in performance of the banks, investors are being prompted to seek out new core stocks for their portfolios. According to Hugh MacNally, founder and chairman of Private Portfolio Managers (PPM),…