Latest News

Pennybacker boosts Pacific Current FUM

KARREN VERGARA
Pacific Current Group (PAC) saw funds under management (FUM) lift in the first quarter of 2025 thanks to affiliate Pennybacker Capital reporting a 17% jump in total assets.

KKR, Capital Group debut first public-private investment products

ANDREW MCKEAN
KKR and Capital Group have launched their first two public-private investment products, interval funds focused on credit strategies, while announcing ambitions to deepen the exclusive strategic partnership they formed last May.

Escala launches alternatives platform

JAMIE WILLIAMSON
Escala Partners will launch a dedicated end-to-end alternatives investment platform.

New Forests buys into Burapha

KARREN VERGARA
New Forests has acquired a majority interest in Burapha Agro-Forestry, a timber plantation forestry company in Laos.

Latest White Papers

Ethics & Governance

Good governance is gold

CHRIS WEST   When the term 'governance' is mentioned, the first reaction is normally one that brings up the dread of another set of overburdensome compliance obligations. However, governance and compliance are very different things. Good investment governance at its core is about how to make good investment decisions.

Royal Commission recommendations and managed discretionary accounts

SAMANTHA CARROLL   The managed account services industry was given much to ponder by Commissioner Hayne in the final report. The major talking point for the industry is undoubtedly the fact that the vertical integration model was left untouched.

Investment

Green bonds: The good, the bad, the opportunities

JOHANN PLĂ©   Last year, the green bond market achieved record levels of issuance and outperformed the conventional bond market. Trump policies and an about-turn in attitude to ESG in the US are likely to see changes in the US region but should not impact the wider asset class. Therefore, 2025 should be another strong year for green bonds.

Global listed infrastructure outlook

EMILY FOSHAG, NINA LIU   When the books closed on global markets at year-end 2024, even the most steadfast investors in global listed infrastructure (GLI)-us included-were forced to face the sobering reality that GLI had underperformed global equities by a whopping 6.5% annualised over the prior five years.

Technology

AI disruption and the implications for real estate

DANIEL TOMASELLI   This paper looks at the rapid progress of artificial intelligence and its impact on the real estate sector.

Human-centred automation

SHANE REID   A must for firms in the financial sector.

Superannuation

IMAs and SMAs meet the demands of SMSF trustees for direct international equities portfolios

HUGH MACNALLY   Individually managed accounts (IMAs) and separately managed accounts (SMAs) enable trustees of SMSFs to access direct international and domestic equity portfolios with greater control and transparency compared to the traditional managed fund options, however the differences between and benefits of IMAs ...

Tailored SMSF and managed account solutions

MULTIPORT PTY LTD   Multiport is a leading provider of self-managed super and managed account administration, reporting and compliance services. We are dedicated to providing the highest level of service for a transparent and competitive fee.

Taxation & Estate Planning

A tale of three countries

PHILIP PARKER   Are you a history buff? Here is a rundown of how managed accounts evolved in the US and the UK - and how the sector is developing locally.

Compliance

Unpacking managed account fees

MARTIN KOFOED   While the benefits of the managed account structure for investors and advisers are clear, their fee structure, however, tends to be less so.

Managed discretionary accounts in 2021

ASSURED SUPPORT   This paper reproduces a Q&A session conducted by Assured Support between its managing director, Sean Graham, and Peter Turbach, partner at MDA Guru. It captures these two leading industry practitioners' respective views on the present state of managed discretionary accounts (MDAs).

Applied Financial Planning

Making comparisons across managed accounts: Why regulatory guidance is required

ANNIKA BRADLEY   If managed accounts hold the key to portfolio personalisation, let's take a look at some of the challenges advisers might face when trying to make meaningful comparisons across performance returns and fees.

Managed account fees: Understanding the true cost of client outcomes

MATTHEW VAN DIJK   At face value, cost comparisons seem straightforward, however, they can exclude material factors that will detrimentally affect your client.

Communications & Marketing

Two roads to a single destination

TOBY POTTER   The amount invested through managed accounts is growing strongly but as a method of investing, managed accounts are still not well understood. The differences between types of managed accounts are often blurred and this is compounded by a prolific use of jargon.

Managed accounts: Boldly go where no one has gone before

ADAM ROWLEY   Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Case Study

Survive the squeeze

KEN BLOOMFIELD   A managed account can minimise the "value leakage" for the client and allow financial advisers to assume a greater role in portfolio management in the long term.