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(pictured: Jerome Kemp) The world of derivatives clearing has been in transition since the global financial crisis as the number of banks and others prepared to participate has about halved. But, the 80:20 rule applies and the cleared market appears to be expanding again, according to Citi, perhaps the biggest player in the world. Jerome Kemp,…

(pictured: Ian Dunbar) The loose collaboration among participants in Australia and New Zealand’s embryonic fintech industry came together in Melbourne last week. Two dozen presenters provided an array of developing ideas, from robo-advice to blockchain technology, in front of potential investors. The event was organised by Afiniation, a group founded last year by former UBS executive…

(pictured: Frithjof van Zyp) by Greg Bright Fund manager RFPs are coming thick and fast from controversial investment consultant bfinance, having set up an office in Sydney after three years of trying to crack the Australian super fund search market from London. It is understood that at least four RFPs, including a large domestic fixed income…

(pictured: Graeme Miller)  Asset consulting seems to be unusually volatile at the moment, with three of Australia’s leading firms – Willis Towers Watson, Frontier Advisors and Mercer – suffering senior staff losses in the past week. The big surprise was the resignation of Graeme Miller, director of investment services at Willis Towers Watson, to take…

(pictured: Cindy Clemson) For decades American leaders, businessmen and everyday citizens have complained about the state of the nation’s infrastructure. But municipal governments and the states are leading the charge in new development. Municipal bonds for foreign investors may be a good way to participate. Cindy Clemson, a vice president and portfolio manager at global manager…

(pictured: Curt Schade)  In a classic case of exploiting opportunities springing from the GFC, a US manager has developed an institutional investment offering capitalising on some economic distortions in the US housing market. It is specialising in rental properties and distressed housing loans. Its numbers may surprise you. Pretium Partners, founded by Don Mullen and…

(pictured: Pierre Chabran) JP Morgan Alternative Asset Management (JPAAM) is on the hunt for short-term quantitative investment strategies, according to Pierre Chabran, the group’s head of hedge fund solutions. The ‘alts’ strategies should preferably favour new technologies, he told a conference last week. Singapore-based Chabran told the audience at the Nikko NZ Investment Summit in Wellington…

(pictured: Len McDowall and Enjia Liu)  China Dairy Corporation handed investors a 25 per cent day-one potential profit when, last Friday, it became the 18th company to list on the ASX so far this year, having successfully raised $17 million. The company is looking to garner Australian dairy technology to aid its big milk-producing operation…

(pictured: Mike Fitzpatrick) By Greg Bright A group of several prominent super fund CIOs and high-net-worth investors recently analysed the investment climate for Australian agriculture. They found that short-term history was against the sector but recent developments were promising for future investment at an institutional level. The consensus was that agriculture could be the new infrastructure….

(pictured: David Gallagher) The Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR) has thrown its support behind the after-tax management movement, with new research showing the detrimental impact tax can have on active manager alpha. The study also reveals some surprising results. Broad-market equities funds tend to suffer the most from tax losses, according to the study,…

(pictured: Arif Joshi) From Lazard Asset Management’s Rockefeller Center office overlooking Central Park and much of Manhattan, Arif Joshi calls the shots, with partner Denise Simon, on investing in the 70-odd emerging countries which issue bonds. Joshi, Lazard managing director and portfolio manager, thinks of investing in EM debt as the intersection of finance and political…

(pictured: Rusty Johnson) For all big super funds, or any investor trying to mimic their strategies, what you do about currency is arguably your biggest investment decision. And you cannot not make it – doing nothing is not an option. With emerging markets, that decision becomes a bit more interesting. Rusty Johnson, head of emerging markets…