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(pictured: Steven Munchenberg) Steven Munchenberg, well-connected lobbyist and chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association, is not worried about Kate Carnell’s recently announced review into banking for small business. But continued talk of a royal commission into banking is a worry. He participated in a webinar last week organised by Stewart Oldfield of Field Research, a…

(pictured: Steven Kempler) by David Chaplin Infrastructure is still finding its place in institutional portfolios with a wide disparity in allocations reflecting the novelty of the asset class, a new study has found. Strategic asset allocations vary significantly. According to ‘The Role of Infrastructure in a Portfolio’ research paper published last week by equities specialist Maple-Brown…

(pictured: James McSkimming) James McSkimming, long-standing Russell Investments researcher has left the firm and believed to be headed to a competitor. He was most recently Russell’s head of Australian equities research, a position which chief executive Peter Gunning says will be filled. Before that he was a senior research analyst at the firm, making a total…

(pictured: Jack Inglis and Paul Chadwick)  The annual AIMA Australia Forum, to be held tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Sofitel Wentworth Sydney, and the Hedge Funds Rock and Australian Hedge Fund Awards dinner, at Sydney’s Ivy Ballroom this Thursday, both look like setting attendance records. The AIMA Forum is expected to break last year’s record of…

by David Chaplin Vanguard’s mooted ‘cluster-free’ investment product could appeal to both Australian and New Zealand investors, according to the fund manager’s head of market strategy and communications in Australia, Robin Bowerman. Bowerman said last week that Vanguard was working with its NZ KiwiSaver clients to develop an “acceptable” passive global shares solution that excluded…

(pictured: Chi Lo) Investors need to be patient with their China exposures. There are unlikely to be any new reforms or other positive – or negative – announcements from Beijing until the next parliament in 2018, according to China expert Chi Lo. Chi Lo, the senior economist for Greater China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) for…

(pictured: Eric Wei) by David Chaplin In a ground-breaking move for the institution globally, the Bank of China (BOC) New Zealand has launched the first of what could be many locally-domiciled funds aimed at meeting the legal obligations of Chinese immigrants seeking residence in New Zealand under investor exemptions. Eric Wei, BOC NZ head of family…

(pictured: Christian Stracke and Tom Collier)  Making money from the new challenges facing big banks should warm the cockles of any investor’s heart. PIMCO shows how in a paper titled ‘Disruptive Regulation – A Secular Investment Opportunity’. The paper, written by Christian Stracke, PIMCO’s global head of credit research, and Tom Collier, product manager alternative…

(pictured: Daniel Kieser) ASIC has given the NZ firm Shareclarity the tick of approval under its new fintech fast-track licensing process. Shareclarity aims to tap into SMSF investor demand for ASX and NZX company research from various sources. Daniel Kieser, Shareclarity founder, said with its newly-minted Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) the company was well-placed to…

(pictured: Alan Bettridge) FactSet, a global investment information company, has opened a Melbourne office to complement its Sydney presence. The new office houses 12 people with plans to expand in the short term. It is managed by sales manager Stefano Lee. The staff consist of client service people and consultants, which the company says will give…

(pictured: Matt Vaughan)  Here’s an irony. Link Group last month held a ‘virtual AGM’ for its NZ share registry client Xero. Just over 80 per cent of shareholders ‘attended’ online. But Link is not allowed to do the same for its Australian clients, nor itself. Xero, the successful cloud-based accounting systems firm from Wellington, NZ,…

New Zealand Superannuation Fund has carved out NZ$600 million from its NZ$4.9 billion passive global equities mandate with Northern Trust Asset Management for two new factor-based mandates with the same manager. The NZ$30 billion fund, which is seen as a bellwether among super funds in the region because of its transparency and innovative investment strategies…