Analysis

(pictured: Andrew Pickering) Australia’s ‘Mr Infrastructure’, Mike Fitzpatrick, and his colleagues at Infrastructure Capital Group, which they acquired from ANZ Bank just after the global financial crisis, have turned their eyes to Asia. With their latest raising they are garnering Asian investment into Australia. According to Andrew Pickering, ICG’s executive chairman and CIO, the investors, mostly…

(pictured: Laurence Bailey) By Greg Bright It’s been a popular saying of Laurence Bailey for many years. And, as the custody veteran prepares for the next phase of his life, most likely to involve teaching or coaching, it is as true today as it was when he started in the industry in the 1980s – remarkably,…

(pictured: Graeme Arnott) The Australian Taxation Office is becoming increasingly interested in the strategies and operations of big super funds as they impact, for the first time, on the Government’s revenue base. Four out of the top 10 Australian taxpayers are now super funds and two are in the top five. Graeme Arnott, the deputy chief…

(pictured Aidan Farrell with – from top left – Nigel Douglas, Fraser Murray, Richard Cahill, Clare Armstrong, Tim Hughes, Dennis Sams) By Greg Bright There are some unusual characteristics about global small caps. They outperform large caps over most periods, as you’d expect, and they have slightly higher volatility, as you’d expect. But they are…

(pictured: Peter Hiom)  Last year the ASX quietly commenced what is looking very much like a transformation of its technology, including CHESS, a purpose built sub-registry platform which ASX introduced in 1996. This time the ASX has cemented its position by buying a stake in the American company building a prototype using distributed ledger technology….

(pictured: Raphael Arndt) by Greg Bright The Future Fund has been reducing its investment risk over the past 12 months, as has been well documented, once again dodging a bullet with the global equities market. Less obviously, the fund has also been looking to reduce its longer-term Anglo, western and, probably, male biases in the management…

(pictured: Mitch King) By Patrick Liddy Innovation is a tricky business. Even in times of hostility, lessons are hard to learn and the consequences can be dire. The American civil war, for example, saw the introduction of rapid-firing rifles to replace muskets. This, in turn, led to trench warfare. The trenches of the American civil war,…

By Andy Schofield* Global megatrends are reshaping the world economic order. Rapid economic growth in emerging countries is leading to mass urbanisation in cities across Asia, Africa and South America. As these cities undergo a gradual transition from production to consumer industries, and increase their financial and business services, exciting opportunities will emerge for global…

By Matthew Peter, Drew Klease and Jimmy Louca* China’s annual economic growth has slipped to around 7 per cent and is facing an increasingly uncertain outlook. There are three broad potential scenarios for China: the good, the bad and the ugly. And the ugly – including a devaluation of the Chinese yuan to boost domestic…

by Matthew Peter (Chief Economist) and Jimmy Louca, CFA (Senior Economist) On the heels of a sharp public reaction to last year’s budget, the Federal Government’s prescription this year focused on growth and assistance for low-to-middle income earners. There was a small expansion in the deficit but the budget is still projected to return to surplus…

by Katrina King, Director, Research & Strategy – Global Liquid Strategies (QIC) In an environment where economists are divided over the future outlook for the Australian economy, institutional investors should consider increasing their portfolio’s weighting to active strategies where portfolios can be focused on opportunities to deliver strong returns over the next five years.  That…

by Phil Miall, Head of Credit Research & Strategy, QIC Superannuation funds’ return objectives will become harder to hit through beta alone on the heels of an intensification of the ECB’s quantitative easing program and a clutch of central bank interest rate cuts. Selective credit market investments, including high-yield investments in the beaten-up US energy sector…