Uncategorized

Proposed changes to managed-discretionary account (MDA) regulation could open up an opportunity for a forward-thinking provider of custody services to enter the retail custody market. “There is a great business opportunity for one of them [custodians] to step up,” chairman of MDA representative body, the Institute of Managed Account Providers (IMAP), Toby Potter, said. This…

Euromoney, the UK-listed conference and media company, has paid AUD$14.4 million for 75 per cent of Australia’s largest institutional investment conference company, Centre for Investor Education, with the two principals signing up for a three-year minimum earnout. The co-owners, Jamie Nemtsas and Erling Sorensen, appear to have made a handsome profit on the company they…

Providing further evidence of the importance of winning HostPlus as its first industry super fund client, Citi Securities and Fund Services has recruited National Australia Bank’s head of sales and business development for asset servicing, Amy Diab. It is understood her main role will be to oversee the new relationship with HostPlus. Diab will be…

State Street has formed a new division, Global Exchange, which aims to provide clients with easier access to solutions – particularly in data management – and accelerate new product development. Jeff Conway, a 25-year State Street veteran, will head the new organization. Conway, who is a keynote speaker at next week’s IO&C Conference in Shanghai,…

Long-time NSW State Government super fund trustee and former bank economist Cristina Cifuentes is resigning all her board positions to take up a five-year job as full-time commissioner of the federal Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Her main remaining super position, which she resigned this month, was that of trustee of the AUD$38 billion First…

Northern Trust is expanding its fund administration and custody capabilities to support locally domiciled Hong Kong funds, including ETFs, and other regional investment funds. Northern will provide global sub-custody and fund admin, including accounting and shareholder services, for asset managers wanting to expand their product base in the region. Camie West, Northern’s head of global…

Citi has won its first industry super fund, HostPlus, for full-service master custody in a deal which is likely to change the competitive landscape for securities services in Australia. The new arrangement, after a year-long assessment process which involved the AUD$12 billion fund’s most senior executives and three international fact-finding missions, is expected to be…

Towers Watson is expanding its team in order to increase its capacity to explore alternative growth investments, rather than high allocations to equities, for its clients. “One of the hallmarks of the organization, has been looking to help our clients diversify away from the excessive reliance on the equity risk premium,” Graeme Miller, director of…

The latest research into financial advisors’ attitudes to fixed interest investments for retirees, and expected future recommendations, shows a dip in future allocations compared with last year’s record actual allocations. But the research, commissioned by the big global bond manager PIMCO and undertaken by specialist research firm Marketing Pulse, shows allocations are, and will remain,…

While China’s long-term prospects – economically, politically and socially – remain bright, the short term is looking increasingly cloudy. Longview Economics, a London-based investment strategy consultancy, believes that the Chinese credit bubble will burst within the next 12-18 months and the region, particularly resources exporters, will suffer a similar debt-deflation cycle as the UK. Chris Watling,…

While Bell Asset Management continues to prosper from its distribution deal with Bridgewater Associates for its strategies in Australia, the manager is also slowly building its home-grown international equity capability. The Bridgewater funds represent the major share of BAM’s funds under administration – at $1.89 billion for the Pure Alpha fund and $2.29 billion for…

SuperFriend, the mental health support and research body backed by 17 of Australia’s major super funds and seven group insurers, is preparing to roll out six pilot workplace projects with various other organisations plus an important research project into insurance and fund data on death and disability. The research, being conducted with the IFS Insurance…