NAB

Private credit and unlisted infrastructure are on the offshore shopping list, but some funds feel illiquid assets aren’t worth the stress (testing). And YFYS isn’t just driving asset allocation decisions – it might start influencing product development too.

Superannuation funds are rapidly offshoring their assets as FUM grows faster than GDP, according to new data from NAB and ASFA. Coming early to the barbell strategy party has also paid off.

They might be behemoths at home, but Australia’s biggest super funds will be on the backfoot as they scour the globe for investment opportunities. NAB’s biennial FX Hedging survey is not only a good insight into super fund hedging strategies, but the state of the industry itself – particularly its growing interest in markets beyond…

CFAs are a good barometer for the investment industry. Put 550 of them together in the current climate and the mood is downbeat. This decade could be the most crucial in human history. The annual CFA Societies Australia investment conference, which attracted about 550 attendees and speakers from several countries, was “all about disruption”, according…

The new inquiry into common ownership wants to find evidence of collusion between super funds. But it appears to be the quintessential storm in a teacup. The standing committee on economics’ inquiry into the implications of common ownership and capital concentration in Australia has supposed a problem and now faces the difficult task of finding…

Negative start to the week, AUSTRAC on the prowl, takeovers galore The ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) finished down 0.1% on Monday, a negative start to the week driven lower by the financials sector, which fell 1.1%.  Elsewhere the retail sector was hit, falling 0.8% as the Melbourne lockdown continues, whilst the IT sector was the brightest light,…

Karl O’Shaughnessy, former hedge fund manager and head of foreign exchange for NAB, has been battling his concerns about FX trading for more than 25 years. He is now advising institutional investors on how to improve their returns. O’Shaughnessy recently formed SuperClear FX, an advisory business which also offers wholesale clients an implementation ‘product’, which…

BNZ, NAB’s NZ subsidiary, has appointed State Street Global Advisors to replace Vanguard as its core international assets index manager among a raft of investment mandate changes. In disclosure documents filed last week (May 19), BNZ named SSGA to take over passive management duties from Vanguard in global equities and fixed income covering its KiwiSaver…

Market down as Brisbane locks down, AGL to split, USD rallies  The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) finished 0.9% lower after the Queensland Government announced a lockdown amid surging virus cases in Brisbane and surrounding areas. The retail sector was hit hard, falling 1.4%, as the likes of Flight Centre (ASX:FLT), -1.8% and Webjet (ASX:WEB), -2.0%, were hit with cancellations of Easter travel plans. The…

While tactical asset allocation strategies have had a long history in Australia, their newish incarnation, as global macro funds, have tended to go in and out of fashion in step with market jitters. The current volatility is good news. Starting with separately managed accounts in 2017 and launching a fund in April 2019, boutique manager…