Managed equity funds have experienced their worst outflows since the COVID downturn of early 2020, according to Calastone. Specialist sector funds are feeling the pain too. Australian investors pulled a net A$516 million from managed equity funds in the first quarter of 2023 – the worst outflows since the start of 2020, according to data… [Read More…]
Investment News
Alts stand firm as US trad managers go backwards in 2022
US listed fund managers came back to earth last year as both profit and asset bases declined after hitting record highs in 2021, according to new Casey Quirk data. The Deloitte-owned US consultancy firm found median revenue in the listed manager sector fell 4 per cent year-on-year while assets under management (AUM) sank 16 per… [Read More…]
Otago implements consultant change
The Otago Community Trust has opted to retain an implemented investment approach following a review… but with a different asset consultant in charge. It is understood that the $315 million charitable fund has switched consultancy allegiances to Mercer in place of incumbent Russell Investments. Mercer also advises the $660 million plus Rātā Foundation (previously known… [Read More…]
Advice firm aims for the middle with new DFA-based funds
The Hastings-based Stewart Group financial advisory firm has released a new suite of retail funds targeting investors in the ‘forgotten middle’ demographic. Nick Stewart, Stewart Group head, said the new ACI funds, which tap into underlying Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) strategies, have been designed to suit clients with up to $250,000 to invest. Stewart said… [Read More…]
Quirk to chair Milford; Smartshares names stopgap chief; Oliver joins NZ Super Guardians; Mercer adds two execs (and 350 staff) as BT assets come aboard
Milford Asset Management former managing director, Anthony Quirk, has stepped into the chair role for the company following the surprise exit of Gavin Walker from the board. Walker, who previously served a long stint as chair of the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS), joined the now $17 billion Milford as independent chair at the end of… [Read More…]
Bad actor showdown: global regulators converge on cross-border rules…
Local regulators have been urged to act in unison to combat global financial fraudsters by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in its final retail investor report handed down late last month. IOSCO board chair, Jean-Paul Servais, said in a release that as a growing number of retail investors enter the market via globalised… [Read More…]
… as ASIC bins Binance
The Australian financial regulator cancelled the licence of controversial crypto trading platform, Binance, last week in the wake of a “targeted review”. In a decision handed down last Thursday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) scratched the Binance licence, effectively ending the firm’s crypto derivatives-trading operations in the country. Binance, the world’s largest crypto-trading… [Read More…]
Morgan Stanley feels the quality
Quality missed a downbeat in 2022 for the first time in 20 years. The investment style, based on the premise that well-made companies will consistently deliver financial returns, had outperformed the broader global equities index during the five previous calendar year market slumps recorded over the past two decades. Amid a deep market sell-off that… [Read More…]
Magellan takes $4bn flow blow on Airlie loss
Under-fire ASX-listed fund manager, Magellan, reported a big bump in net outflows in March with the group’s Australian equities subsidiary, Airlie, taking the hit this time around. Airlie saw funds under management (FUM) fall A$3 billion month-on-month to close at A$6 billion as two big Australian institutions pulled mandates following the exit of founder and… [Read More…]
Why Paris-aligned benchmarks go ‘way too far’
The Paris-aligned benchmarks that an increasing number of global investors now subscribe to disincentivise activities that might actually help the energy transition, according to index provider Scientific Beta. Paris-aligned benchmarks (PABs) are meant to reduce portfolio carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on limiting the rise in global temperatures to below 2°C and… [Read More…]