The COVID-19 pandemic has justifiably absorbed management and board attention, but environmental and other activist groups have not shifted their focus during the lockdown. Read more

The sophisticated world of large superannuation fund investing demonstrates an age-old aphorism: the only constant is change. Funds initiate some changed themselves to implement new ideas, address risks in the portfolio (including peer risk), insource ... Read more

The link between positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and economic growth is not new. However, the heightened focus by market participants on value creation through sustainability is new and being driven in part by global ... Read more

Goals-based investing is about building and managing investment portfolios to achieve particular outcomes. Goals-based investing focuses on achieving the specific results desired by the end client, the investor, rather than more arbitrary market ben ... Read more

The introduction of the self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) 20 years ago gave Australians greater flexibility, control and choice over how they invest their retirement savings. Read more

The markets have been reacting violently to the sudden weakness in the oil price. Read more

Off-market share buybacks are a curious form of Australian corporate action: what rational investor would deliberately elect to sell back shares at a price below market value? The answer lies in the aftertax value of the transaction. A superannuation ... Read more

Retirement investing is necessarily complex. The median superannuation balance when entering retirement generally will not be adequate enough to support a comfortable lifestyle in the retirement years ahead. This paper outlines the major investment ... Read more

When a company is the subject of its own blockbuster movie, it tends not to be good news. Examples of Deepwater Horizon (BP), The Social Network (Facebook) and Too Big to Fail (multiple financial institutions) only serve to promulgate this view. The ... Read more

An alternative to a self-managed superannuation fund (an SMSF) establishing a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) is for the fund to invest in a unit trust. An advantage of a fund investing in a unit trust is that it allows the resources of ... Read more