Insights

AustralianSuper Scales up Machine Learning

Professor Carsten Murawski, Brain, Mind & Markets Lab, University of Melbourne

The Illusion of Rationality

Behavioural Finance, Factors, Quant & Systematic

Not all problems are computable and there is good reasons to believe that many investment problems fall into this category, Professor Carsten Murawski of the Brain, Mind & Markets Lab says.

Spiros Deftereos, Head of Property, Hostplus

Real Estate Profile: Hostplus – Part I

Real Estate

Hostplus is eyeing offshore property as the fund continues to grow.

Fiona Trafford-Walker, Director, Frontier Advisors

Trafford-Walker to leave Frontier Advisors

Asset Allocation & Strategy, Women in Finance

Fiona Trafford-Walker will depart Frontier Advisors on 6 December 2019, after 25 years with the asset consultant.

Fiona Reynolds, CEO of the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment

Roadmap for Finance Sector seeks to end Slavery

ESG

A commission against modern slavery has called upon the finance sector to end slavery and provides a blueprint of how to achieve this in a report launched at the United Nations.

No Retirement Solution Fits All

Asset Allocation & Strategy, Retirement, Women in Finance

Jacki Ellis has been given the task to spearhead First State Super’s retirement strategy from an investment perspective. We speak to Ellis about the complexity of the problem, the challenges of CIPRs and the need for customisation.

Does Your ESG Policy Breach Fiduciary Duty?

ESG, Factors, Quant & Systematic

There are limits to how much of an ESG tilt you can introduce to your portfolio before it becomes more risky than a market index. But what is too much? Harin de Silva of Analytic Investors has found a way to measure this.

Real Estate Profile – First State Super

Asset Owners, Real Estate

First State Super has spent four years rationalising its real estate portfolio, selling $1 billion of old stock. Now, the fund has turned its eye on responsible investments in the residential sector, Florence Chong writes.

Michael Block, Chief Investment Officer, Australian Catholic Superannuation & Retirement Fund

In Defence of Life-cycle Strategies

Asset Owners, Retirement

Australian Catholic Super CIO Michael Block addresses some of the criticism of lifecycle strategies and argues that we should take a closer look at the concept behind it. “To always place a member who is 20 years old with a 60-year old member in the same strategy is clearly ridiculous,” he says.

The Average Company Doesn’t Matter

Asset Allocation & Strategy

Investing is about capturing the outliers, Baillie Gifford’s Tom Slater says. In a study of long term buy-and-hold strategies, he found that more than 50 per cent of returns were driven by just three companies in the portfolio. But how do you find these outliers?