All articles by Florence Chong – Page 3
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Private gain as Australia’s infra assets change hands
Australian superannuation funds are playing a key role in the largest takeover yet of an Australian infrastructure asset, Sydney Airport, for A$23.6bn (€15bn) in cash.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: In need of a broader asset pool
With a market cap of just A$2.7trn (€1.75tn), Australia’s ASX stock market is increasingly overshadowed by a rapidly growing pool of super savings which now exceed A$3trn.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Super funds: shame in a name
Named and shamed! Thirteen Australian superannuation funds have been forced to inform their million-plus members that they have failed an inaugural superannuation performance test mandated by the financial regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
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Special Report
Common prosperity reshaping equity markets
China’s focus is shifting to emerging industries in its drive to become a powerhouse of innovation
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Public places, private matters
AustralianSuper marked a milestone with its successful takeover in 2019 of education provider, Navitas, for A$2.1bn (€1.3bn).
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Too good to be true?
If Australia’s latest five-yearly Intergenerational Report (IGR) is to be taken seriously, Australian retirees can look forward to comfortable retirements 40 years hence.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: When the ‘kill switch’ misfires
The Australian government is attempting to push through Parliament legislation that would selectively benchmark the performance of superannuation funds – but has given up its intention to override investment decisions made by super funds.
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Features
Briefing: China bonding with the world
It is tantalising to imagine the concept – that the standard global fixed-income portfolio, which has stood the test of time for so long, may be about to unravel. The standard bearers – US Treasuries, the UK Gilts, German Bunds and Japanese government bonds (JGBs) – may soon have to share the stage with a brash newcomer: Chinese government bonds (CGBs).
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Coalition mulls super hike
There are arguments both for and against a rise in compulsory superannuation contribution rate as Australia emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic .
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: A question of gender imbalance
Statistics offer a snapshot into the real world and they reveal a depressing picture of gender inequality in Australia’s superannuation system.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Should super savings fund homes?
A post-COVID-19 housing boom has made the future of Australia’s A$3trn (€2trn) superannuation savings pool a hot topic.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Retail super funds in distress
Australia’s once-dominant retail super funds are witnessing the end of an era as they wrestle with loss of consumer confidence in their brands. Hastening change has been the rise of industry supers, which benefitted from damaging evidence provided to the Hayne Royal Commission in 2018.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Early access genie escapes the bottle
In March 2020, as the Australian economy went into COVID-19 lockdown the government unlocked the national superannuation pool, seeking to ease the financial stress on individuals.
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Special Report
Defined contribution: Australia's super review re-opens old battlegrounds
The Callaghan report on Australia’s universal superannuation system has rekindled a row between the government and the labour movement
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Reforms not super for default funds
A string of government reforms due to come into effect from July 2021 has caught the superannuation sector off-guard.
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News
GPIF: Climate risk impacts all asset classes
If the world could limit global warming from greenhouse gas emissions to 2°C, the value, particularly of Japanese companies, would increase
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Funding the future world
A handful of Australian superannuation funds are committing their members’ savings to the future world in terms of energy, water, technology and ideas. There will be successes and failures as ideas are developed and marketed.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: ESG stirs some ancient ghosts
In May this year, Rio Tinto blew up one of Western Australia’s most significant Aboriginal heritage sites.
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Special Report
China: ESG with Chinese characteristics
Pressure from international and domestic investors is driving an upsurge in ESG adoption by Chinese companies
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Pooling for savings and strength
The government, the regulator and economic fallout from COVID-19 have combined to pressure Australia’s large and unwieldy pool of super funds towards consolidation.