ACS

Too much of what managers call alpha is just a roll of the dice. To find the real stuff you have to look in private markets, according to Michael Block, while trend following strategies will get you something that looks just like it.

Commentators warn that a new default cycle will strip the shine from private debt strategies, but not all managers have been “sitting on their hands”. And the dislocation in commercial real estate is creating new opportunities for savvy managers.

UniSuper’s mandate to Revolution Asset Management shows how important private debt is becoming to super funds as their member base matures. It also has its roots in the merger with Australian Catholic Super.

Basing an investment strategy on the goldilocks investment markets of the last 35 years gives rise to considerable risk, writes Michael Block, and now might be the time to get out of growth assets.

“We had the courage to stick with our investment strategies,” ACS CIO Michael Block tells ISN. “Often what happens with a strategy that doesn’t work is you cut and run at the wrong time. We were lucky enough or clever enough or brave enough that that didn’t happen, and our members reaped the benefit this year.”

Hostplus has topped the keenly anticipated performance charts for balanced super funds for the year to June, as well as the past 10 years, SuperRatings has confirmed. Only three funds showed positive returns for the 12 months.

Super fund data companies are rushing to beat deadlines for June 30 figures, with heightened interest from industry participants and members. The median balanced fund was minus 3.3 per cent, SuperRatings said.

UniSuper’s decision to dip its toe into venture capital is all about members. The question is whether the fund will go further down a road that few others have tread.  It’s an investment that would barely move the dial on overall returns, but the $75 million that UniSuper has tipped into early-stage commercialisation manager Uniseed…

In the aftermath of Your Future Your Super (YFYS), members of dud funds still aren’t moving their super. And it’s not clear what the government and regulators can do about it. It sometimes seems that so much time was spent on implementing the contentious YFYS reforms that the question of what would happen to members…