Opening up early access to super for housing would have a negative effect on the balances of even those members that don’t dig into their savings, with funds forced to adopt more conservative investment strategies and hold more liquid assets.
The circa $88 billion industry fund for workers in health and community services reckons that alleviating the affordable housing crisis will boost its other investments by easing the cost of living and inflation.
Ravi chosen for BMO Global spearhead
BMO Global Asset Management, the investment arm of the Bank of Montreal, has decided on the country head to open its Australian office – Ravi Sriskandarajah. He is the former managing director and head of business development at BlackRock and one of its predecessors, Merrill Lynch, who left that firm in March after a restructure.
An announcement from one of BMO’s two headquarters – the one in Chicago – is expected this week. Ravi declined last week to comment ahead of that announcement.
As reported last week, BMO is a full-service multi-asset-class manager, with about US$70 billion under management. Its other headquarters is in Toronto. BMO also has offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including those of several boutique alternatives managers it owns, such as Lloyd George Management in Hong Kong and Pyrford in London.
Bank of Montreal, BMO’s parent, has a small office in Melbourne.
Ravi’s appointment follows a four-month search by global recruitment firm Russell Reynolds.
