The news that Statewide Super exited a three-way merger with Tasplan and WA Super and Tasplan immediately announced talks with MTAA Super, followed by Hostplus disclosing it was talking to Club Super, are just part of the big and blurry picture in the Australian superannuation market. How about this for a rumour: REST Super and… [Read More…]
Archives for 2019
Water investment tips: use buckets
Blue is the new black in green investing, according to a recently-published Russell Investments paper. The study, authored by Russell quantitative research analyst Emily Steinbarth, says while carbon is the number one concern for sustainable-focused investors, another issue looms large. “A lot of work has gone into identifying how carbon can be measured, managed and… [Read More…]
Managers adopting low-or-no carbon strategies to mitigate risks
Initially driven by big pension funds in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America for various reasons, some political, fund managers are increasingly looking at how companies are handling the inevitable transition to a lower-carbon world as a risk-assessment tool. Martin Currie Investment Management, for instance, which runs A$12 billion in Aussie equities, as well… [Read More…]
Pie profit drops 40% as expenses trump soaring revenue
The in-play Pie Funds Management has reported a more than 40 per cent drop in net profit over the 12 months to March 31 this year as rising expenses more than cancelled out revenue gains. According to the latest Pie annual accounts released last week, the $1 billion boutique racked up $15.5 million plus in… [Read More…]
SuperLife expands in the Pacific (with spillover benefits for Castle Point)
The NZX-owned SuperLife has landed another Pacific Island client after winning a new mandate from the NZ$100 million plus Tongan Retirement Fund. Under the just-inked agreement, SuperLife will manage the Tongan government employee pension fund money via purpose-built active multi-manager investment vehicles. The win follows a similar deal late last year where SuperLife picked up… [Read More…]
Western rides into town for Russell NZ bond fund
Russell Investments has hired global fixed income firm Western Asset Management to run half of its approximately $45 million NZ bond portfolio. The previously sole incumbent, Harbour Asset Management, will continue to manage the other half of the Russell NZ fixed income fund. In a note to clients last week, Russell said shifting to full… [Read More…]
Vanguard, iShares take knife to Aussie ETF fees
More shots were fired in the Australian exchange-traded funds (ETF) fee wars last week as the world’s two biggest players in the space slashed prices. Morningstar reported that both the Blackrock-owned iShares and Vanguard sliced fees by 40 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, on their core Australian equities ETF products last week. Vanguard’s… [Read More…]
Finzo ventures into a new dimension
Newly-rebranded financial adviser services firm, Finzo, has rolled out a new UK currency-denominated pension transfer product managed by US fund giant, Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA). The new DFA product, hosted on the i-Select superannuation scheme, will only be available to advisers using the Finzo platform, the group’s chief, Nick Stewart, said. At a Finzo launch… [Read More…]
Avatars, not humans, on investment committees: it’s no joke
Artificial Intelligence is coming to the investment world sooner than you think. Vontobel Asset Management, the big Zurich-based global manager, now has a product in beta-testing mode, where its investment committee decisions are based on AI. In fact, the committee members are all avatars. And its returns are top decile. Daniel Seiler, the Vontobel head… [Read More…]
All-you-can-eat REITs: AMP Capital’s listed property take-aways
The global listed property market isn’t where it used to be. James Maydew, AMP Capital head of global listed real estate, said secular trends are pushing the property sector beyond the traditional boundaries of retail, office and industrial Just over the last 18 months, for instance, a new sub-asset class has opened up in the… [Read More…]