Analysis

The sell-off in many emerging markets after the US election is starting to correct as the protectionist rhetoric of president-elect Donald Trump softens. According to big US manager Brandywine Global Investment Management, there is unlikely to be a crisis because of Trump. Brandywine, a Legg Mason affiliate manager, has studied the ‘Trump effect’ from a…

by David Chaplin NZ fund managers have gained a tenuous toehold in the approximately NZ$6 billion (A$5.8 billion) ‘iwi’ investment market, the indigenous funds consisting mostly of real assets, according to Phil Barry, director of Wellington-based consultancy firm, TDB Advisory. Barry said just-published TDB Advisory research into iwi assets found only two groups – the North…

Frontier Advisors is putting its new information technology system to good use with a special reporting service for funds to comply with ASIC’s revised ‘RG 97’. In a new study Frontier has presented the challenges for big super funds, noting disparities between for-profit and not-for-profit fund reporting. One thing is certain: compliance costs are about…

It is no surprise to Anthony Serhan, who has been studying the differences between pre-tax and after-tax management and reporting in the industry dating back more than 15 years, that there is currently a surge in interest by investors across the board. Serhan, a managing director and head of research strategy for Morningstar in Asia…

By Matthew Lee Women In Super, which advocates for better retirement outcomes for women, has celebrated the stand taken by the super industry against domestic violence and for the rights of women, at the Women in Super, NSW, Christmas lunch in Sydney last Friday (December 2). The event, attended by more than 480 people from various…

By Patrick Liddy* Whistleblowers are in the news again, following the annual Sydney and Melbourne conferences of the industry association IMCA last week. This year the conferences featured Jeff Morris, the Commonwealth Bank financial advisor who alerted the world to fraudulent bevaviour at the bank, and Adele Ferguson, the Fairfax Media investigative journalist who went…

By Greg Bright Believe it or not, there are a few free lunches in investment management – strategies which can deliver savings that are the equivalent of no-risk alpha. The biggest of these, the longest free lunch if you will, is after-tax management. Last week investors and managers spoke out on the issue. At roundtables…

Changing the behaviour and processes of a big organisation, such as a super fund, is never easy. There are usually several stakeholders involved who need to be convinced of the changes, including, arguably the most important, the humble administrator. At the PwC/Parametric roundtables on investment efficiencies last week (see separate report), Shannon Goard, the national…

After a five-year burst of portfolio realignment, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have slowed their pace of change, according to new research. But they continue to increase exposure to alternatives. An International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) survey released earlier this month found the “significant shift” towards alternative assets initiated by members over the previous…

(pictured: Kathryn Saklatvala) bfinance, the UK-based manager search and consulting business which set up shop in Australia this year, has proposed a redefinition of the alternative beta market, which it says has expanded by 30 per cent in just the past nine months. bfinance, which provides a different business model to that of the mainstream asset…

The private equity market has not only recovered from its doldrums of 2007-2008, it is expected to struggle to satisfy investor demand over the next decade. Two-thirds of LPs plan to increase their allocations, according to the latest survey by SEI Investment Company. SEI, a big US-based fund manager, administrator and advisory group, surveyed 200…

(pictured: Ben Chong) The signs are there for an uptick, with two big super funds making commitments and others taking strategic positions in fintech companies, but venture capital in this country remains an after-thought compared with other unlisted assets. Notwithstanding First State Super’s $110 million and HostPlus’s $400 million, the handful of Australian-based venture firms are…