Frontier Advisors

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.

Australian super funds and asset managers shouldn’t ape their international peers when it comes to unlisted investment practice, according to Frontier, and demand for more frequent valuations will ultimately be worn by members.

Treasury is fine-tuning the Your Future, Your Super performance test ahead of its next iteration in August. While the updates could pave the way for a better test, its extension to trustee-directed products is cause for consternation.