Dear all,
I hope this email finds you well and the demands created by the end of the financial year are starting to ease. Having said that, I’m conscious the behaviour of global markets will have created a new set of demands, as clients seek comfort that their strategies are built to withstand these unpredictable times. It’s in these uncertain times that sound portfolio construction practices including dynamic asset allocation, effective diversification and manager blending are at a premium, as is the ability to make changes where required. The managed account structure allows for efficient portfolio changes and has already proven invaluable for many of our clients and their investors in being able to position portfolios for changing market conditions.
New cost-aware managed account portfolios
This month, we launched our new Dynamic ETF Portfolios on MyNorth. These cost aware, diversified, multi-asset portfolios employ our best-of-breed, multi-manager approach, and incorporate a broad range of ETF exposures using a dynamic asset allocation (DAA) overlay to optimise returns from market opportunities.
The team managing the portfolios is led by Damien Hennessy, our Head of Asset Allocation and a highly experienced economist with a wealth of industry experience. He’s supported by the same dedicated internal teams who manage our portfolio construction, monitoring, rebalancing and data analytics, which creates a robust portfolio management, monitoring and reporting process for our clients.
More information on the Dynamic ETF Portfolios is available here.
Advocating for change
As a research business with oversight over the variety of funds that make up the diverse super sector, the team at Chant West is in the privileged position of being able to contribute to government reviews and regulatory consultations. This provides an opportunity to advocate for change which will ultimately deliver a more robust, fit-for-purpose super sector that delivers for fund members. Chant West’s General Manager, Ian Fryer, recently advocated strongly for changes to the Your Future Your Super (YFYS) performance test, to ensure its suitability for choice super products. We were obviously pleased with the government’s decision to pause the introduction of the test for this product set.
If you haven’t seen the recent outcomes of Chant West’s end of financial year fund performance analysis, I recommend reading this summary of the highlights. As Australians, we’re all participants in the super industry and this is a great insight into what’s been an interesting year for super funds.
Prioritising responsible investing and sustainability across the Group
Dugald (Dug) Higgins will be familiar to many of you, firstly as our Head of Listed Property and Real Assets and most recently, as Head of Responsible Investment (RI) and Real Assets. In an important shift for the Group and to reflect the growing importance of ESG considerations as a framework for making investment decisions, we’ve broadened the scope of Dug’s RI remit to encompass Zenith Investment Partners, FE fundinfo Australia and Chant West.
As the new Head of Responsible Investment and Sustainability for the Group, his remit now includes all areas of the business as we work to deliver a market-leading RI framework to financial advisers, and build a more strategic approach to the delivery of our corporate sustainability agenda.
Upcoming events
As we look at the traditionally busy industry calendar of events in the last half of the year, I look forward to seeing more of you in person. If you’re at the upcoming Financial Standard Managed Accounts Forum on 14 September, please drop by and say hello to the team. We’ll be delivering an update on the current state of global markets and what this ‘new normal’ means for the way we construct and manage managed account portfolios.
Best wishes
David Wright
CEO
