Insights

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are being recognised in global fixed income investing as value-added indicators of potential economic performance. Templeton Global Macro CIO, Michael Hasenstab, examines ESG factors in investing and how they speak to an economy's potential as an investment destination.

The IFA market is likely to emerge as the victor as the Royal Commission into banking and superannuation has highlighted the problems with a vertically integrated financial services model and institutional ownership of the advice chain.

Paul Costello, the founding chief executive of the Future Fund, has embarked on a new challenge: he is raising money for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, which brought him back from imminent death from lung, brain and liver cancer in March, thanks largely to the efforts of oncologist Professor Ben Solomon. Professor Solomon managed to secure access to a new drug, outside the clinical trial system, which had an immediate beneficial impact on the celebrated fiduciary investor.

Market pricing seems to reflect the notion all emerging markets are equally vulnerable to market headwinds, such as commodity price declines. Dr. Michael Hasenstab, CIO, Templeton Global Macro sees past the pessimistic headlines and makes the case that finding attractive emerging markets opportunities lies in distinguishing the more resilient countries from the rest.

Some people just brighten up a workplace. In the case of Mat Tenney, product manager at Ignition Wealth, it's his can-do attitude, passion for people and wicked sense of humour that make him such a popular staffer, a favourite in both the Sydney and Dublin offices. We hear from his colleagues and also from Mat, who we subject to questions about his first job, his hidden talents and who he would invite to his dream dinner party.

Whether you’ve been on the receiving end of a bad speech or you were the one on stage flailing away as your audience skimmed through their social media feeds, we’ve all been part of a fizzer of some sort and it ain’t pretty. We asked communications expert, Ross Neilson, of Menin Media, to share his advice on how to deliver the right words to make your audience switch off their phones, switch on their brains and listen to what you have to say...

You might be the CEO who has had the benefit of a professional speechwriter to help you deliver the results at the AGM, or maybe you're the MC at a friend’s wedding, preparing to give the toast, then you see all of those faces in the crowd and you freeze. No matter the audience or the circumstances, being the centre of attention can be a truly daunting experience.

If given the chance to whisper some words of wisdom to your 21-year-old self, what would you say? Would you focus on career, finances, travel, family? Words of encouragement or admonishment? We asked some of our recent interviewees and their responses were diverse. (Chances are, our younger selves wouldn't listen anyway.)

Industry Moves reported on 408 appointments for the first half of this year made by 198 organisations. 44% of the 68 board appointments were awarded to women, but once again our statistics show disappointing results for those who are looking for an improvement in the gender balance of executive appointments in the finance industry.

Quantitative easing (QE) by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has more than quadrupled its balance sheet over the last decade, from US$900 billion to US$4.5 trillion. Templeton Global Macro believes the Fed has been using emergency medicine long after the emergency has passed.

It's been nearly two years since we last spoke to Amanda Young, CEO of the First Nation Foundation. This week, just before she heads off for the Big Super Day Out Roadshow to be held in Brisbane, Cairns and Cape York, we catch up with Amanda and find out about an 'explosion of work' including programs that have delivered life-changing results for our nations’ first people. We also learn about the increase in super funds' involvement; though more are welcome, and necessary, to see this nascent economy flourish.

The Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA) surveyed 53 of Australia's largest super funds for the RIAA Super Fund Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2018. With 81% of funds showing a commitment to responsible investment (RI), and the doubling of appointments of RI employees, it shows some healthy trends since the last survey in 2016. However, there is need for improvement, with just 10 funds identifying climate change risk as a key consideration in strategic asset allocation and only six funds showing activity in impact or community investing. Industry Moves asks Simon O'Connor, chief executive officer of RIAA to tell us a little more about the findings and how the association is working with its members to refine and articulate standards of approach to RI.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are being recognised in global fixed income investing as value-added indicators of potential economic performance. Templeton Global Macro CIO Michael Hasenstab examines ESG factors in investing and how they speak to an economy’s potential as an investment destination.

Rachel Alembakis of The Sustainability Report talks to David Brown, national human capital leader at Deloitte, about the results of the seventh annual Millennial Survey. The findings, based on the views of more than 10,000 millennials questioned across 36 countries, show Australian millennials' opinions of business' motivation and ethics dropping to the lowest level since 2014. We find out why, for some businesses, that's good news.

At last week’s Women In Super (WIS) lunch in Sydney, 150 industry professionals were lucky enough to hear philanthropic innovator Audette Exel deliver an inspiring speech. They also heard the announcement of this year’s WIS and AGSM @ UNSW Business School scholarship winners. We highlight the recipients below and find out a little more about what the AGSM programs offer the industry.

In the lead-up to the World Business Forum, Industry Moves talks to featured speaker and expert behavioural scientist, Kelly Peters. Having had the “privilege and luxury” of being at the forefront of innovation throughout her career, Kelly tells us how businesses, armed with powerful insights, can effectively tackle complex challenges, and encourages us to unleash our inner scientist. We also hear about her research around investors’ appetite for risk, her favourite innovation project, and her search for Australian ‘mavericks’ that are eager to disrupt the industry using science.

What do workplace negotiations and family dinner chats have in common? Listening – they are both transactions after all. But what does it take to really listen? This week we draw on the experience of Industry professionals from our weekly Q&A series who say that ‘to listen more’ is the best advice they have received. We also bring you five steps from an acknowledged expert in the art of listening.

Who are the people that most influence our careers? Over the months, Industry Moves has learned of some outstanding people who have provided inspiration and encouragement to many in our industry. This week, we highlight some of these influencers - including those who are well known, those who are no longer with us, and two very impressive women who, unsurprisingly, received more than one mention.

In five years, the number of investment products on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has grown from 153, to now number over 500. We spoke to senior manager, distribution and product development at the ASX, Rory Cunningham, and ASX ETP product and business development manager, Charmaine Breadon about developments in this space.

In the lead-up to the World Business Forum, Industry Moves talks to featured speaker and academic director of Executive MBA programs at the Melbourne Business School, Vivek Chaudhri, who shares his insights into Australia’s banking and finance industry. He tells us why ‘business as usual’ is no longer going to cut it for Australia’s banks, shares his key pieces of “bleedingly obvious” advice for senior leaders and tells us why we should do away with traditional benchmarking methods.