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Institutional investors are still concerned about liquidity within their portfolios and are adopting new approaches to modify their asset allocation, according to a paper by State Street. The paper, part of the firm’s Vision Series of thought leadership reports, says the continued volatility of markets has led to the identification of weaknesses in investment portfolios….

Applications for the annual CIO and COO awards for fiduciary investors in Australia, such as super funds and multi-managers, are now open, it was announced last week by La Trobe Financial. The awards recognise the achievements of key executives managing retirement savings and aim to encourage them to further their education in the pursuit of…

If China opens up its financial system at the rate at least one big bank expects there will be extra pressure on regional neighbours to fast-track their proposed integration and liberalization plans or be left behind. The 10 member nations of ASEAN, which was formed in 1967, have been making some progress towards a type…

The new leaders of China are expected to “dismantle” the country’s multifarious capital controls, according to a research report from HSBC, called ‘China’s Big Bang’. The report, overseen by Qu Hongbin, HSBC’s chief economist for Greater China, focuses on a series of steps intended to remodel the financial landscape. The key forecasts are: liberalized interest…

Distressed securities look like providing the best return, both in absolute and risk-adjusted terms, again this calendar year of the 12 categories of hedge fund investment styles measured by the EDHEC – Risk Institute. According to the research organization’s figures for periods ending October 31, the distressed securities category is a clear leader with 10.0…

Advances in technology used by custodians is helping them to engage directly with members or unit holders on behalf of big funds, providing detailed investment positions, calculations and projections for individuals. JP Morgan’s ‘Audience of One’ program, which has been operating in the US since 2005, has had a positive impact on US pension plan…

As some Chinese banks are looking to expand into regional and then global custodian services – notably Bank of China and ICBC – they now face competition at home from their domestic brokerage firms. The China funds management research house Z-Ben Advisors reports in its client newsletter that China Merchants Securities (CMS) has become the…

Q: Why do we still use cap-weighted indices at all?A: Because that’s the way we measure performance. As old as the now-redundant argument as to whether passive investments are better than active over time is the argument as to whether capitalization-weighted indices, which remain the norm, represent the best yardstick for the average pension fund’s…

State Street, which has a long on-the-ground history in China, including a large administration and software base in Hangzhou, has decided on a traditional partnership structure for its first Chinese domestic asset management business. The firm announced last week that it would take a 49 per cent interest, through State Street Global Advisors, in a…

Notwithstanding a 60 per cent fall from its peak, the Chinese stock market still looks unattractive to a renowned US-based value manager who has been billed as “the new Benjamin Graham”. Vitaliy Katsenelson, the Russian-born CIO of Investment Management Associates Inc, believes the quality of information about Chinese stocks, the high proportion which are linked…

IO&C is hopeful of raising $US40,000 for the Shanghai-based CereCare charity for disabled children in China with a gala dinner at next April’s conference at the Hyatt on the Bund. A proportion of the funds will go to the supply of new wheel chairs and the remainder to contribute to the provision of a special…

The influential Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, representing the country’s largest fiduciary investment funds, has recommended several regulatory reforms and changed market practices for custodians and others involved in proxy voting at meetings for listed companies. This follows a research project by ACSI which studied proxy votes by 23 big investors during 2011, involving 1,895…