Age of activismUniSuper's recent, very public opposition to the Westfield restructure illustrated at least one thing: super funds have clout. Gone are the days when trustees delegated all investment decisions - including shareholder voting rights - to an assortment of external fund managers. Now, some of the big funds have their own in-house managers who have the expertise to make complicated judgments. And as the episode with Westfield showed, they are not afraid to use this expertise.
But what does this mean for businesses? Will super funds become increasingly active in the governance and decision-making of the companies they own? Will they use their clout to force companies to do things they wouldn't otherwise have done? Will they even use their financial muscle to force environmental and social change, divesting from fossil fuels, tobacco and weapons manufacturers? Or is this all hyperbole? FS Super associate editor James Fernyhough sat down with UniSuper chief investment officer John Pearce to |
Latest News
Farewell TelstraSuper: Largest corporate fund explores merger options
|TelstraSuper is searching for a merger partner, after its board concluded that size and scale are "increasingly important" to serving members' best financial interests.
Performance test needs better metrics, durability
|The superannuation performance test has several shortcomings that must be addressed in Treasury's latest round of consultation so it is fair and sustainable, the Actuaries Institute Summit heard.
UniSuper battles major system outage
UniSuper is working to resolve an ongoing system outage impacting the entire business, assuring disgruntled members it is not the result of a data breach.
Mercer rolls out new corporate super plan
Mercer Super has launched a new corporate superannuation plan for employers of all sizes called Mercer Business Super.
Cover Story
The super, super fund
DEANNE STEWART
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
AWARE SUPER
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
AWARE SUPER
Aware Super has marked its expansion into Europe with the grand opening of its London office.