News

Australian Ethical and Christian Super finalise merger

Posted by Anton Murray Consulting on 30 Nov, 2022 . Posted in Funds Management News

InvestorDaily

The merger between Australian Ethical and Christian Super has been finalised. Australian Ethical Investment has confirmed that the merger between Australian Ethical Super and Christian Super has been finalised. In an ASX filing on Monday, Australian Ethical Investment said that the successor fund transfer (SFT) of Christian Super into Australian Ethical Super was successfully completed on 25 November.

“We are delighted to welcome more than 28,000 new members who want to invest ethically and look forward to communicating the benefits of increased scale to all super fund members which we’ll be passing on as fee reductions,” Australian Ethical CEO John McMurdo said. Australian Ethical now stands at more than 110,000 investors and more than $8 billion in funds under management. “The increased scale achieved through this transfer will further grow Australian Ethical’s influence and impact as one of Australia’s leading pure-play ethical investment firms with a 36-year track record of offering strong returns to its investors,” Mr McMurdo said.

The rest of this article can be found at investordaily.com.au.

Women underrepresented in asset management roles

Posted by Anton Murray Consulting on 29 Nov, 2022 . Posted in Market Commentary

InvestorDaily

Women on average make up 27 per cent of investment teams, new research has shown. All 20 of the Financial Services Council’s (FSC) global and domestic fund manager members surveyed want to improve diversity in their investment teams, the FSC’s latest Diversity Survey has found. While the survey found that women on average make up 27 per cent of investment teams — a 2 per cent increase on last year’s findings — the investment community recognised there is more work to do.

Namely, among the FSC’s fund manager members, 95 per cent said they are tracking gender diversity statistics within their organisations as well as within their investment management teams. Commenting on the findings, FSC CEO Blake Briggs said: “Women are underrepresented in asset management roles and the fund management industry continues to work on this to ensure women consider financial services as a career path”. “Fund managers are connecting with industry initiatives such as F3 – Future Females in Finance and Future IM/Pact to raise awareness of the interesting and rewarding roles a career in investment management offers,” Mr Briggs said.

The rest of this article can be found at investordaily.com.au.

Zurich appoints new CIO

Posted by Anton Murray Consulting on 29 Nov, 2022 . Posted in News

InvestorDaily

Zurich Financial Services Australia has announced the appointment of a new chief information officer for Australia and New Zealand. Deepak Budhiraja, currently chief information and technology officer for Hong Kong, Singapore and Bermuda with Sun Life Financial, will take up the role of CIO, Zurich Australia and New Zealand on 16 January 2023 and relocate to Sydney. Hilary Bates, chief operating officer, Zurich Australia and New Zealand, said: “Deepak brings an impressive breadth of international experience to this role, including a strong capability in formulating digital roadmaps and a passion for innovation and customers.

“We very much look forward to Deepak joining in the new year and welcoming him as a key member of the local Zurich team.” Mr Budhiraja has more than 20 years of experience holding senior roles within the financial services industry, including various digital transformation roles across Sun Life business units. Prior to this, he spent more than 10 years in DXC Technology’s Life Insurance Practice consulting for clients located in the US, Singapore and India.

The rest of this article can be found at investordaily.com.au.

Perpetual announces new head of equities following resignation

Posted by Anton Murray Consulting on 24 Nov, 2022 . Posted in Funds Management News

InvestorDaily

Perpetual has promoted Vince Pezullo to the role of head of equities within Perpetual Asset Management Australia following the resignation of Paul Skamvougeras. In an ASX announcement on Monday, Perpetual confirmed that Mr Skamvougeras had made the decision to step down from the role, with Mr Pezullo taking over from him immediately. With over 26 years of experience in the industry, the firm said that Mr Pezullo has a deep understanding of its investment approach, process and philosophy as well as a proven ability to deliver strong performance through market cycles.

He originally joined Perpetual in 2007 and has been its deputy head of equities since 2016. CEO and managing director Rob Adams described Mr Pezullo as a highly respected portfolio manager. “His long tenure as deputy head of equities combined with Perpetual’s investment in succession planning and the resultant strength across our Australian equities team, provides us with confidence that this will be a seamless and successful transition,” said Mr Adams.

The rest of this article can be found at investordaily.com.au.

Private companies proving increasingly attractive to ESG investors

Posted by Anton Murray Consulting on 23 Nov, 2022 . Posted in Funds Management News

InvestorDaily

Private equity asset managers committed to ESG investing now manage over US$3 trillion (almost $4 trillion), or 36 per cent of the value of total global private market assets. This is a result of more and more institutional investors, particularly pension and superannuation funds, focusing their private market allocation on more ESG-oriented investments than they have in the past. There are some large institutional investors who, over the last two years, have shifted their entire private markets investment approach into a sustainable strategy, resulting in a greater need for ESG-focused private markets managers and investment themes.

This typically encompasses investing in private companies along a spectrum from integrating ESG for risk mitigation and performance enhancement through to fully fledged impact investment with specific goals of having a measurable environmental or social impact.

The rest of this article can be found at investordaily.com.au.

CareSuper and Spirit Super exploring potential merger

Posted by Anton Murray Consulting on 23 Nov, 2022 . Posted in Funds Management News

InvestorDaily

Industry super funds CareSuper and Spirit Super have announced they have entered into a preliminary non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore a possible merger. If the two funds proceed with a merger, a combined fund with over 500,000 members and over $45 billion in funds under management (FUM) would be created. “Both funds have identified a shared common vision to potentially create a mid-sized fund that provides a distinct point of difference in the market,” CareSuper chair Linda Scott and Spirit Super chair Naomi Edwards said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

“Both funds will now undertake extensive due diligence, before any decision is made, to ensure a merger is in the best financial interests for members of both funds.” The super funds indicated that this process is expected to take several months, with both continuing to operate independently with no disruption to operations in the meantime. “Both CareSuper and Spirit Super members can be assured they will be kept informed of any material decisions. There is no change to any aspect of any member’s funds, investments or insurances as a result of this preliminary non-binding MOU,” Ms Scott and Ms Edwards said.

The rest of this article can be found at investordaily.com.au.

News

Australian Ethical and Christian Super finalise merger

Women underrepresented in asset management roles

Zurich appoints new CIO

Perpetual announces new head of equities following resignation

Private companies proving increasingly attractive to ESG investors

CareSuper and Spirit Super exploring potential merger

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