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In an upbeat finish to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the European Central Bank president and the Goldman Sachs chief executive expressed optimism about conditions later this year. Mario Draghi said he expected the Eurozone economy to begin its recovery in the second half but that further “fiscal consolidation” was inevitable. Goldman’s Lloyd Blankfein…

The sustainability trend among institutional investors is gathering pace with Mercer publishing a note announcing it was “seeking innovative and experienced managers with a compelling investment case to help our clients implement their sustainable strategy”. Helga Birgden, Mercer’s head of responsible investment, Asia Pacific, who wrote the note, says that Mercer’s research over a number…

Chris Cuffe, the UniSuper chair and former Colonial First State boss, is about to get into publishing with the launch of a weekly newsletter for investment and superannuation, called Cuffelinks. Cuffe is joined by three other “grey-haired colleagues” who believe the industry is lacking sufficient independent quality writing about issues, at the same time defending…

Andrew Bloore, the founder of SMSF platform provider SuperIQ, believes that large super funds are seeing that they are better off working together with the self-managed market rather than “tearing each other apart”. “We are not the enemy,” he says. “The emerging superannuation landscape allows people to move out of an industry fund, once they…

The long-running annual global custody survey by UK-based R&M Surveys is expanding its Asia Pacific reach with its latest survey, involving a custody client survey at clientalkback.com Richard Hogsflesh, the managing director of R&M Surveys, says he wants to increase the participation of Australian super funds and Asian pension funds and managers who use global…

The biggest risk facing the world is income disparity but the risk likely to have most impact on the world, if it occurs, is that of a major systemic financial failure, according to a report prepared for the World Economic Forum which starts in Davos, Switzerland, tomorrow (January 22). The 80-page report, distributed to Davos…

Benchmarking, in an era of increased focus on risk, is starting to encompass all areas of institutional portfolios. The latest to get the academic treatment is the growing area of infrastructure investments. The international research body EDHEC-Risk Institute announced last week the establishment of a research chair which will involve three senior researchers from the…

In the latest McKinsey Quarterly newsletter, Gordon Orr, who has lived in China since setting up the consulting firm’s Chinese offices from 1993, pulls together some recent themes and makes 10 interesting predictions for the year ahead. Orr, who is the chairman of McKinsey Asia, based in the Shanghai office, predicts (in edited form): 1.Banks…

RBC Investor & Treasury Services has been appointed global custodian and fund administrator to quirky manager Gemini Investment Management. Gemini, formed in London in 2009 by its three directors – Stuart Alexander, Alan Jupp and Alison Savage – acts as both third-party marketer for other managers and Dublin-based fund manager to institutions and high net…

Bloomberg, the global financial information company, has become a major supporter of the Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the year awards, which recently called for nominations from Australian fiduciary funds. Bloomberg has become a silver sponsor alongside Affiliated Managers Group, JP Morgan and Commonwealth Bank. The gold sponsor is National Australia Bank….

Californian State Teachers Retirement System, State of Wisconsin Investment Board, University of Texas Endowment, University of Missouri Endowment, Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension, Indiana Public Retirement System, TIAA-CREF, and the Pennsylvania Public Schools Employees’ Retirement system all invested in Bushmaster Firearms – the company which made the assault rifle which Adam Lanza used to…

After a tumultuous year, Mercer, the big asset consultant and multi-manager, has abandoned its three-year-old united Asia Pacific strategy, resulting in significant personnel changes at the top of its key investment areas. Stephen Roberts, the head of investment consulting and investment management for the Asia Pacific region, left the company effective December 31, his role…