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Index provider FTSE has produced a paper on the potential and risks provided by the 26 frontier countries and 368 stocks that make up the FTSE Frontier Index. Lower volatility than both emerging and developed markets is a surprising plus for the frontier index. The paper, ‘Frontier Markets: Accessing the Next Frontier’, discusses the economic…

(Pictured: Vittorio Lacagnina) QIC has underscored its belief in the growth of global infrastructure investing with the recruitment of Vittorio Lacagnina to head up capital formation for North America and Europe from the firm’s new New York office. Lacagnina was hired from SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners where he was an investment director responsible for global fund raising…

(Pictured: John McMurtrie) by Greg Bright The Link Group, owner of AAS, has confirmed it has progressed its proposal to purchase Superpartners, its main competitor in the super administration market, entering an exclusive heads of agreement. If the deal proceeds to consummation, then the hard work begins. As predicted by Investor Strategy News (ISN July 13,…

(Pictured: Margo Lydon) A landmark study by IFS Insurance Solutions in association with SuperFriend, the workplace mental health group, has provided the first comprehensive details of the aggregate costs to big super funds and their insurers associated with mental health issues, such as deaths by suicide and TPD and other insurance claims. The study, called SuperMIND…

(Pictured: Lorraine Berends) Marvin & Palmer Associates, the global equities manager, will close its Australian office at the end of September after 14 years. Lorraine Berends, who has headed the office since inception, said the closure was part of a firm-wide round of cost-cutting which reflected the shifting demands of institutional investors. As a long-only…

(Pictured: Richard Brandweiner) The challenge for big super funds coming to grips with the global trend of ‘impact investing’, such as the NSW Government’s First State Super, is “turning what we see as desirable into probable”, according to that fund’s chief investment officer, Richard Brandweiner. Brandweiner chaired a session on impact investing at the ASI conference,…

(Pictured: Patrick Liddy) There are easy dollars to be made where funds can increase returns without increasing risk, in the areas of tax management, cash and FX. “These are the only free kicks left in the market,” according to Patrick Liddy, principle of consultant MSI Group. Liddy told the ASI conference that a fund’s custodian was…

(Pictured: Francesco Squillacioti) State Street is introducing “enhanced custody” to Asia Pacific following increasing demand for the service in the US and, more recently, Europe. Enhanced custody offers securities financing directly to clients, without the need for a prime broker, together with traditional asset servicing and custodial services. According to Francesco Squillacioti, State Street senior managing…

(Pictured: Kathryn McDonald) AXA Investment Managers has chosen Australia to launch its first integrated ESG smart beta fund, which has been seeded by dealer group Financial Index Wealth Accountants (FIWA) with $55 million, and is available on the Asgard platform. The fund, which is powered by US subsidiary AXA Rosenberg, will have about 400 stocks…

(Pictured: Mike Davis) The Tyndall name, which has been synonymous with value management in Australian funds management since 1989, is to be phased out by parent Nikko Asset Management, as the Japanese firm further integrates the local offering with its regional and global presence. Tyndall was formed from the remnants of a former high-flying growth manager,…

(Pictured: Jon Howie) The democratisation of access to investment markets which has followed the rise of consumer choice around the world is continuing to force changes in investment management and the management of big super funds. Take what’s happening in the expanding ETF sector as an example. ETFs are far from new but they were slow…

(Pictured: Tim Martin) Tyndall Asset Management has folded its alternatives business in with the management of core asset classes and made Tim Martin, who headed the unit, redundant. The firm, owned by Nikko Asset Management, has also let go its head of sales and marketing, Matt Russell. The Tyndall alternatives business, which focused on private debt,…