Financial Newswire’s Post

SCOOP with Michael O'Dwyer: Schroders has kicked off a search for a successor to its chief executive Peter Harrison, who is preparing to step down as the boss of the UK’s largest #assetmanager after eight years. The £750.6bn FTSE 100 group, whose founding family is its largest shareholder, has hired headhunters at Russell Reynolds Associates to work on “a full and extensive global search”, with succession expected to take place in 2025. Harrison has sought to offset the decline of Schroders's traditional business by pushing into faster-growing areas such as #privatemarkets, #wealthmanagement and in its business line that offers outsourced chief investment officers and liability-driven investing to #pensionfunds. But he has had to contend several headwinds: the rise of cheaper passive investing, a shift in investor demand from public to private markets, and a multi-decade shift by UK pension funds away from holding shares in their local market.

Is your super being managed in a way you never intended it to be? Perhaps you started with First State Super, then went to VicSuper and now Aware Super have taken the reins. Or, maybe you set out with Media Super which merged with Cbus in early 2022. This likely created some headaches… additional paperwork, new log in details, the need to update employers, create new beneficiary nominations… the list goes on. Not to mention that each change results in a new fee structure, a new investment menu and different levels of personal insurance cover. Consolidation within the superannuation industry has been rife in recent years. According to The Super Guide, a staggering 36 mergers have completed in less than three years. And it doesn’t end there, Mercer Super predicts the number of super funds in Australia will decline another 30% over the next five years. So, if you’re not reviewing your super fund on a regular basis, you’ll likely end up in a completely different one than where you started. This may be a positive or it could jeopardise what can become one of your most valuable assets.  If this all seems overwhelming, we can help - reach out by visiting my bio and booking in a 15-min intro call. #superannuation #financialadvice #investing #NeoWealthManagement

Some delicate issues of for profit Superannuation. 1) If the Superfunds owners are to make profits then they are incentivised to asset gather. 2) I see a potential conflict in say KKR owning a slice, and then the balanced fund owning private equity -> KKR could be one of the managers as well. 3) Are they incentivised to provide better service as this costs more? Jury's still out, but should be interesting to see thanks Simon Hoyle for the piece. https://lnkd.in/gAydyDMA

Recent Movements in Wealth Management 👩💼👨💼 ▶ Andrew Ko is announced as Aware Super's Head of Group Strategy, beginning his role in December 2024. https://lnkd.in/gk9eeFey. ▶ CapitaLand Investment strengthens its Australian presence with the appointment of a local CEO and Chief Investment Officer. https://lnkd.in/gDDfRmTR ▶ Paddy Crumlin, Jason O'Mara, and Lucy Weber join the Cbus Super Fund Board after passing APRA's 'fit and proper persons test,' as part of Deloitte's ongoing independent review. https://lnkd.in/gZ-y-B5E ▶ Fiducian Group Limited welcomes Jonathan Green as its new General Manager of Superannuation, officially starting on 18 November 2024. https://lnkd.in/gRkFGnRq. ▶ The Future Fund LLC promotes six investment professionals, including James Fraser-Smith and Shikha Gupta, into Executive Director roles under its newly unveiled team structure. https://lnkd.in/g-eiK2Gn ▶ Insignia Financial's Independent Non-Executive Director John Selak steps down in 2024, ending nearly a decade of service. https://lnkd.in/gKEe8Jg3. ▶ JANA Investment Advisers welcomes Enda J Mahoney as its new General Manager of Technology and Data , overseeing IT and data strategies. https://lnkd.in/gzD3_nNR ▶ Newmark Capital hires Nathan Wares as Head of Wholesale, transitioning from Prime Value Asset Management. https://lnkd.in/g5Xb88r2 #Movements #News #WealthManagement #Investment #Superannuation #Insurance

Australia’s super funds have emerged as truly global institutional asset owners, attracting the attention of peers and governments around the world. But Investment Magazine’s 2024 coverage detailed how the rapidly growing sector is also grappling with serving members in both accumulation and decumulation and expectations of world-class customer service. #superannuation #YearinReview #InvestmentMagazine https://lnkd.in/gXdifJp5

This is certainly a trend we are seeing across our key international markets.... with professional advisors and intermediaries increasingly outsourcing investment management responsibilities to well established, independent and regulated asset managers.

Superannuation funds will have to deal with the ACCC more often than ever before under the ACCC’s proposed merger reforms - not just for fund mergers, but also for their ordinary, direct investment activity. In this video, I discuss how superannuation funds are likely to be impacted with my competition law partner, Jeremy Jose. If you work within a super fund’s investments team or investments-legal team, it is definitely worth watching - let me know if you would like to discuss any of these issues further!

Family offices have emerged as the fastest growing proportion of private capital investors, increasing from 7% to 36% in the four years to December 2023. The number of active Australia-based family offices is eight times higher than four years ago, data from Preqin shows.    Meanwhile, the proportion of superannuation funds as private capital investors has more than halved, dropping from 47% to 20% over the same period. This decline is potentially due to a trend of mergers between superannuation funds and their need to invest at scale.    Government agencies, insurance companies, banks, endowment plans, fund of funds, and other limited partners have remained relatively consistent during this time. For more data, research and insights visit:    https://lnkd.in/gxdh2ffK   #InvestmentCouncilAU 

ICGN's network includes the world’s largest public pension funds and asset managers. We focus on the “G” because G is key! Governance is about how companies are run, and how long-term sustainable economic returns are generated. It’s also how we can solve some of the newer and urgent issues that the corporate world needs to grapple with. That’s why we focus our networking, education and policy impact on material governance issues, advocating for high standards in corporate governance and stewardship, in line with our members’ fiduciary responsibilities. These are our key focus areas - find out more about becoming a member at: https://lnkd.in/eYTzE6mz #governance #corpgov #stewardship #investors #assetowners #assetmanagers #GisKey

Private equity giants KKR, Bain Capital, and CC Capital are setting their sights on Australia's $2.5 trillion pension industry, fueled by steady growth due to mandated contributions. Notable deals include CC Capital's A$2.9 billion bid for Insignia Financial Ltd., topping an earlier offer from Bain Capital, and KKR's A$2.2 billion offer for part of Perpetual Limited. Harry Brumpton and Amy Bainbridge | Bloomberg https://lnkd.in/gTWxcGai #LBO #Buyouts