Future Fund

Traditional portfolio construction might be dead. But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to beat inflation, even as investors anticipate it will continue to rise and fall over the next decade.

Magellan has flagged acquisitions and the addition of alternatives strategies as part of a five-year plan to reclaim the $100 billion plus heights it last scaled in 2021.

The Future Fund pulled some of its new portfolio levers to mitigate the financial damage seen through 2022, but it doesn’t expect markets to get much better anytime soon.

How institutional investors generate returns now needs to change, according to a position paper from the Future Fund, with the very foundations of Modern Portfolio Theory shaken by the events of 2020-22.

As the world’s top 100 asset managers grow to awesome size, they’re confronted by a “complex and uncertain” macro environment and need to prepare for the burgeoning systemic risks of climate change.

MetLife’s institutional asset management business has acquired $1.5 billion impact bond manager Affirmative Investment Management (AIM) as it looks to build out its internal sustainability capabilities.

A new CEO will go part of the way to convincing investors that Magellan can be turned around. But proving to those investors that they need Magellan, not an index, will be harder.

Not-for-profit (NFP) investors are keen to jump into the private markets, but are being held back by the complexities of manager selection and concerns around cost.

Not-for-profit industry body Focusing Capital on the Long Term (FCLTGlobal), has refreshed its mandate guidelines for institutional investors.

The world’s state-owned investors (SOI) have made progress in leaps and bounds on governance and sustainability. Locally, the Future Fund and NZ Super lead the way.