Australian superannuation funds allocate more to private equity than their European counterparts, and are poised to increase their offshore private equity investment…

With unlisted private equity companies comprising such a major part of the economy, it makes sense that they should form part of an investment portfolio as well...

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has unveiled a significant shift in its strategic asset allocation and plans to significantly increase its allocation to alternative assets…

Presentations and full transcripts from the PortfolioConstruction Conference 2004 are now available...

Active management is proportionately more important now than it ever has been, and new and viable types of active return are emerging, argued David Brown, QIC's senior fund manager strategy at December's Portfolio Construction Forum Researchers' Roundtable. Here are images of David's presentation slides, with full notes...

A key focus of each Portfolio Construction Forum Researchers' Roundtable program is the question & answer time where our Inquisitors grill the presenters - in this case, QIC's David Brown and ASX's John Elfverson - on the topic - in this case, active vs passive management of international equities...

The bigger the better, right? Fund size, that is. The sentiment is understandable, but those adhering to it might be disappointed. Conventional wisdom in the funds industry suggests that the larger the fund, the harder it is to achieve excess returns, and a recent paper from Lazard suggests this is more true for growth managers, than value managers...

Delegate feedback from our second annual conference - THE Investment Conference 2003 on 18/19 August 2003 in Sydney - was very, very positive. And with 50 investment experts presenting during 30 sessions over the two days, it was in the words on one delegate "no junket". Critical Issues Forum presentations can be accessed via this article...

This was the standout, most popular session of THE Investment Conference 2003 presented by PC Forum on 18/19 August 2003, earning a stunning 4.7 out of 5.0 average rating across all delegates. As our day 2 opening keynote, independent strategist Jonathan Pain looked at investment theory, its history, its relevance and what current valuation models imply for future returns. He argued we need to radically alter the way we construct portfolios, if we are to build portfolios that are in our client's best interests - and then walked us through what this means for the conventional asset management model...

Most of us hear "property" and think "listed". At THE Investment Conference 2003 (18/19 August 2003), we devoted a session to challenging this assumption. Is listed property really an asset class? What diversification does it provide in a portfolio? And if it's so great, why don't researchers and fund managers allocate more to it? Fund managers have begun going offshore for property - what benefits does that bring to a portfolio?...

What should your asset allocation models look like going forward? Is strategic and tactical asset allocation past its "use by" date? Proponents of different asset allocation approaches argued their merits and weaknesses at THE Investment Conference 2003 (18/19 August 2003)...

The global economy is at an inflection point that continues to produce a favourable US bond environment, according to Doug Hodge, Executive Vice-President of PIMCO, speaking at last week's FEAL February 2003 Briefing Series. The difference this time, he contends, is that US policy makers get it. They have the will to combat deflationary risks, with Japan as an example.

Nothing like a "slap in the face" from reality to send people back to basics. According to some, abandoning traditional asset allocation is the answer. So how important is asset allocation? Research shows it explains 40 per cent, 90 per cent AND 100 per cent of fund performance.

Inflation has long been the scourge of Central banks everywhere, but ever since Alan Greenspan used the ‘d’ word last September, deflation has replaced inflation as the spectre troubling economic policy makers.

The big issues facing trustees this year will be asset allocation and equity market performance. Investor Weekly's Rebecca Hewett reports.

Last year was an annus horribilus for European investors and the ex-UK sharemarket was the worst hit global sector. Where to in 2003? IFA's Amanda Swinburn reports.

A confluence of events is occurring which should make this year the best for managed fund inflows since 1999. Factor X for markets in 2003 is unlikely to be war - history shows that the exceptional events tend to be apolitical. InvestorInfo's Greg Bright opines.

Boutique managers are becoming increasingly popular, but do they add value? Yes and No, according to van Eyk Research managing director Stephen van Eyk in his presentation to the recent inaugural meeting of the Portfolio Construction Forum Researchers’ Roundtable. The following article summarises Stephen's rationale, and links to his presentation, including performance analysis of more than 30 boutique, medium and large Australian equity fund managers.

This is an absolute must read article. Bob reports on the presentation by Donald Ratajczak, former chairperson of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, on the outlook for the US economy, particularly the potential for a "double-dip" recession. Other issues addressed by Ratajczak; Is the bubble burst like Japan's? What about energy prices? Are stocks overpriced? Is deflation on the horizon?

The following is a PDF of two presentations from the inaugural Portfolio Construction Forum on 7 August 2002.
1. Graham Rich's introduction of the AAB.
2. the AAB's presentation of its TAA.