GLOBAL INVESTMENT INSIGHTS

“Greater dispersion across asset classes can provide attractive alpha opportunities for both long and short positions. In our view, alpha diversification is more reliable across various macro regimes than beta diversification, making relative-value decisions more resilient to macro shocks.”

- Dimitri Curtil is the Global Head of Multi-Asset Solutions at Newton Investment Management where he oversees the team of portfolio managers and researchers responsible for the firm’s systematic multi-asset strategies. Dimitri also leads the development and enhancement of the research underpinning the strategies.

The market environment following 2008’s global financial crisis was characterised by an abundance of liquidity, effectively zero cash rates and negative correlation between stocks and bonds. With investors sensing that the central-bank ‘put’ was firmly in place to underpin markets, risky assets moved inexorably higher. Waves of central-bank quantitative easing (QE) created an inherent fragility in financial markets, with the abundant liquidity driving asset prices higher and rendering relative-value strategies less effective.

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic created such turbulence that inflation surged. Cash rates rose to more than 5%, eroding risk premiums and setting a high hurdle for risky assets. Traditional hedges such as government bonds did not provide diversification.

This drastic change created new challenges for client portfolios. Not only did diversification diminish as correlations between asset classes became less negative or outright positive, but inflation became a risk, particularly given its uncertain trajectory. Moreover, the shift into private-market strategies during the QE era created an unintentional bias towards illiquid assets. Furthermore, high cash rates mean the net present value of long-term cash flows is now lower than during the period of QE.

Is your portfolio prepared for this new regime?

October 2024

Global Investment Institute congratulates Nadine Hassouna on her promotion to Portfolio Manager, External Equities at TelstraSuper.

TelstraSuper is a leading profit-to-members fund managing around A$24 billion in assets on behalf of its members. It is regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and receives super contributions from more than 20,000 employers. 

We wish Nadine all the best in her new role and continued success to the team at TelstraSuper.

“Vietnam is the last great Asian emergence story of scale, underpinned by both manufacturing and exports, as well as domestic consumption.”

- Will Ross is an Executive Director and Chief Marketing & Distribution Officer at Dragon Capital, responsible for the end-to-end investor experience starting with awareness and branding, through to post-investment support. As the investor base for Vietnam continues to diversify this extends to education, product, channel and support strategies to provide new investors with access.

Will is presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Family Office Investment Forum - Sydney, taking place on Tuesday, 15 October 2024 in Sydney CBD, New South Wales and the Family Office Investment Forum - Melbourne, taking place on Thursday, 17 October 2024 in Melbourne CBD, Victoria.

To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zelda@globalii.com.au.

October 2024

Global Investment Institute congratulates Greg Hall on his promotion to Senior Portfolio Manager - Head of Asset Allocation at Australian Retirement Trust (ART).

ART was formed through the merger of Sunsuper and QSuper, creating one of the largest superannuation funds in Australia with approximately AU$300 billion in assets under management and more than 2.4 million members.

We wish Greg all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at ART.

October 2024

Global Investment Institute congratulates Mark Aarons on his promotion to Head of Asset Classes at Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC). VFMC is a public authority responsible for investing AU$86 billion on behalf of Victorians, managing the long-term investments of Victorian State Government entities, comprising of 32 Victorian public authorities and related organisations.

Mark joined VFMC in 2018 and prior to this most recent promotion, held the role, Head of Investment Risk and Absolute Returns. His risk role encompassed risk analysis, portfolio construction and defensive overlays. He also headed up the Absolute Returns team which covers Hedge Funds, Private Credit and Emerging Market Debt (circa 20% of VFMC’s FUM).

We wish Mark all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at VFMC.

“The primary question for investors in the current investment environment is how to secure reliable, consistent income, while effectively managing risk. Investment-grade credit provides high-quality income with a low likelihood of default and is particularly well-suited for a ‘higher-for-longer’ interest rate environment.”

- Roy is a senior leader within the Fixed Income team at Yarra Capital Management, focusing on Australian Fixed Income and Credit.

Roy will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Family Office Investment Forum - Melbourne, taking place on Thursday, 17 October 2024 in Melbourne CBD, Victoria.

To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zelda@globalii.com.au.

October 2024

Global Investment Institute congratulates Jujhar Toki on joining CH Warman Group in a Senior Investment Manager role.

CH Warman Group is an Australian family office that invests in a diverse range of asset classes including listed equities, hedge funds and private equity. It is associated with the Charles Warman Foundation that undertakes the philanthropic activities on behalf of the CH Warman Group.

We wish Jujhar all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at CH Warman Group.

“The growth of private credit has resulted in a risk transfer of lower quality companies from the public to the private market, helping to reduce default risk for liquid credit investors. In addition, an uptick in liability management exercises creates opportunities for highly scrutinising investors willing to roll-up their sleeves to potentially find diamonds in the rough.”

- Meaghan Mahoney is the Managing Director and Credit Business Leader at Artisan Partners. She is responsible for the overall management of their Credit platform from a business and investor perspective.

Meaghan will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Family Office Investment Forum - Sydney, taking place on Tuesday, 15 October 2024 in Sydney CBD, New South Wales and the Family Office Investment Forum - Melbourne, taking place on Thursday, 17 October 2024 in Melbourne CBD, Victoria.

To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zelda@globalii.com.au.

"US$14 trillion could flow into private markets by 2033 because of the potential increase in target allocations, predominantly from three newer adopters of alternatives: wealth channels, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds.”

- Marc Pillemer is a Managing Director on the Blue Owl GP Strategic Capital platform, responsible for sourcing and evaluating minority investments in private markets focused General Partners (GP).

Marc will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Family Office Investment Forum - Sydney, taking place on Tuesday, 15 October 2024 in Sydney CBD, New South Wales and the Family Office Investment Forum - Melbourne, taking place on Thursday, 17 October 2024 in Melbourne CBD, Victoria.

To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zelda@globalii.com.au.

September 2024

Global Investment Institute congratulates Daniel Rigney on his promotion to Manager Quantitative Research – Investment Strategy and Asset Allocation at REST.

REST is the superannuation fund for retail employees and today has over 1.9 million members, managing more than A$80 billion in assets on their behalf (as of June 2024).

We wish Daniel all the best in his new appointment and continued success to the team at REST.

Global Investment Institute congratulates Martin Thompson on joining ESSSuper as an Investment Manager.

ESSSuper serves the Victorian State Government, its employer agencies and their employees. It administers the State’s statutory defined benefit superannuation funds and obligations. It also administers accumulation style products such as the ESSSuper Accumulation Plan and account-based Income streams. ESSSuper has approximately 125,000 members with A$37 billion in assets under management.

Prior to joining ESSSuper, Martin was the Head of Investment Research at legalsuper and before that spent 14+ years with Frontier Advisors, most recently as a Senior Consultant, providing consulting support to clients and undertaking investment and manager research.  

We wish Martin all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at ESSSuper.