Frontier Advisors

Super funds have been able to earn “enormously good returns” from strong economic tailwinds and a calm geopolitical backdrop, but that period of stability is now at an end, and they’ll have to adapt to a more uncertain world.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, investment managers have been bedeviled by the question of how much attention they should pay to geopolitics. Part of the answer can be found in parking lots.

The asset consultant will modify its team composition in response to shifting client demand and build out its younger ranks as it executes on its new five-year plan.

Minimum drawdowns aren’t meant to be a default, but plenty of members use them that way. Frontier Advisors wants funds to pay them a “retirement wage” instead.

Fundies are getting with the internal management program but they don’t necessarily like it, according to new data from Frontier Advisors. Especially with a new army of gatekeepers arrayed before them.

First Super inhabits a world of giants, but it’s not considering a merger and it’s not sweating its size. That doesn’t mean it’s not “chronically anxious” about performance and costs.

As super funds internalise more and more of their investment management, they’re taking on more and more risk. Many of them still lack a plan to deal with it.

While internal investment teams have generally delivered good outcomes there is little independent review or direct public scrutiny of their performance compared to external managers, according to Frontier Advisors.

The asset consultant has rounded out its real assets and private markets research with two new appointments as both areas grow in importance to the institutional investors it services.

Unlisted assets deliver high risk-adjusted returns across market cycles but come with inherent challenges, especially around valuation. For super fund trustees, the importance of ensuring accurate valuations to fairness and member equity can’t be overstated, says Frontier Advisors.