It’s been another busy quarter for our business, with some positive developments around the expansion of our service offering locally. You will have received a communication from me recently announcing that the FE fundinfo service offering in Australia will be delivered under the Zenith brand. This change will enable us to offer a ‘best of group’ solution to our various clients across the financial services sector, while providing the scope to tailor a local service offering for FE fundinfo’s data-driven solutions. Our parent company, FE fundinfo, is a global leader in the data and technology space and they’re renowned for their high quality, timely and accurate global data set and document production capability. This is an exciting expansion of our service offering and we welcome the opportunity to discuss this news further, should you have any questions.
We’re now B Corp certified!
In what’s been a significant project for the business, we’ve recently received our certification as a B Corporation (B Corp) by global non-profit organisation, B Lab. B Corp is a global certification obtained by companies meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability – companies which have shown a commitment to building a more inclusive, sustainable economy.
B Corp certification provides a framework for continuous improvement, ensuring the work towards improving our sustainability and responsibility as a business remains a strategic priority and reflects our ongoing commitment in this area to all stakeholders, including our clients and staff. With our business producing Responsible Investment classifications on all products we research and advising investment consulting clients on the construction and management of ESG/RI portfolios for their clients, it was important for us to ‘walk the talk’ as a business and demonstrate our commitment to best practice in ESG and sustainable standards.
More information on our B Corp certification is available here and congratulations to Dug Higgins for leading this important work over the last year.
Super fund data and research now available in Mosaic
At the start of May, we launched a new super research module in Mosaic. Powered by Chant West’s market-leading data, this new module provides access to more in-depth super fund research and ratings data, reports and insights than ever before.
This new module enables you to access an expanded list of investments from major super funds, compare each super fund’s investment options against various managed funds, ETFs and LICs on a range of metrics such as fees, performance and risk indicators, and access Chant West ratings on industry and retail super funds. Please get in touch with our team if you’d like a demonstration of this new module in Mosaic.
Celebrating Australia’s best super funds
While we’re on the topic of ‘all things super’, on 17 May, representatives from Australia’s leading super funds came together to celebrate their collective achievements and set new benchmarks for best practice at the Chant West Super Fund Awards. With 13 awards across a range of key categories including insurance, member services, advice services and responsible investment, it was a fantastic evening which saw the main awards going to UniSuper for Super Fund of the Year, and TelstraSuper for Pension Fund of the Year. The full list of category winners is available here.
Enabling philanthropic giving
The role of philanthropy in Australia is increasingly important and the work the financial services sector does to grow philanthropic wealth and facilitate its distribution for the betterment of society is quite exceptional. Many of you will be familiar with Australian Philanthropic Services (APS), the brainchild of highly regarded investment industry veteran, Chris Cuffe. APS provides support to both financial advisers and individuals to create and manage philanthropic giving in a tax efficient manner. I was genuinely thrilled when Chris approached me about managing the APS Foundation’s Focused Portfolio, which has a responsible investing and/or environmental, social and governance (ESG) objective.
Drawing from our range of Highly Recommended and Recommended funds with the additional overlay of Zenith’s Responsible Investment Framework, launched in June last year, the Focused Portfolio incorporates a range of highly rated managed funds. More detailed information about APS’ services and their various portfolios is available here.
What do we look at when rating new funds to market?
Have you wondered which factors are the most important to our Research team when we’re reviewing and rating new funds to market? I was recently interviewed by Livewire Markets about our research process and what our team looks for when reviewing funds, particularly those with a shorter performance history. I really enjoyed the conversation and if you’re interested, the interview is available here.
Kind regards
David Wright
Chief Executive Officer
