Despite being a growing reservoir of funds under management, this critically important pool of capital is confronting mounting problems collating and disseminating key data in a timely manner.
The ratings house is pinning its growth strategy on a revamped methodology that increases the emphasis on governance to 25 per cent – a timely move considering APRA’s proposed reforms.
Northern Trust on a roll with Aussie Post win
(Pictured: Dennis Sams)
Australia Post’s $6 billion super fund has become the fourth in a series of securities servicing contract wins for Northern Trust this year – all involving JP Morgan as the incumbent provider. And in an unrelated move, the fund has made its head of investments redundant.
The change of custodian follows a review by independent consultant Brett Elvish of Financial Viewpoint. It is understood the short list considered consisted of JP Morgan, State Street and Northern Trust. In a topsy-turvy year for JP Morgan, the firm picked by Cbus from NAB.
Northern’s other recent wins were the $14.8 billion investment portfolio of Insurance Australia Group (IAG), ACT Treasury and Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme.
Rohan Singh, the Northern Trust Australia head, declined to comment on the Australia Post mandate.
Meanwhile, the fund, which is closed to new members and is in run-off mode, has made its head of investments, Dennis Sams, redundant. Sams joined in December 2011, after previously overseeing a $20 billion public markets portfolio for UniSuper. Before that he was head of research at Russell Investments and before that a senior consultant at what was then Towers Perrin. The head of investments role was created for Sams with the promotion of Stephen Milburne-Pyle to chief executive.
