Official institutions seek new horizons

24 April 2014
| By Staff |
image
image
expand image

Official institutions — defined as central banks, sovereign wealth funds and public pension reserve funds — are looking to invest in new markets and a broader range of assets in their search for greater returns, according to a report by State Street.

The research reveals changed investment objectives post the GFC crisis period, as official institutions strive for higher returns whilst safeguarding economic growth and stability in their role managing national wealth.

This has resulted in expanded investment parameters where central banks have moved away from G3 government bonds into emerging market debt and equities, while sovereign wealth funds are investing in private equity, commercial real estate and increasingly infrastructure projects.

Despite concerns about the challenges associated with new markets and asset types, 80 per cent of official institutions surveyed in the report expect to increase their exposure to new markets, where they have the appropriate mandate.

This move into new asset types is creating new levels of portfolio complexity, which presents challenges in the areas of currency risk, market risk and the need to manage the diverse regulatory requirements of international markets, said the report.

Official institutions are required to be more adaptable to new risks with an efficient yet resilient operating model to meet challenges identified in this research, said State Street head of Official Institutions Asia Pacific, Henry Quek.

"This means reducing costs while not compromising on standards, finding the right combination of people, process and technology to support investment needs and operational challenges, and using the right data to generate insights that support better-informed investment decisions," said Quek.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest developments in Super Review! Anytime, Anywhere!

Grant Banner

From my perspective, 40- 50% of people are likely going to be deeply unhappy about how long they actually live. ...

1 year 4 months ago
Kevin Gorman

Super director remuneration ...

1 year 4 months ago
Anthony Asher

No doubt true, but most of it is still because over 45’s have been upgrading their houses with 30 year mortgages. Money ...

1 year 4 months ago

A major super fund has defended its use of private markets in a submission to ASIC, asserting that appropriate governance and information-sharing practices are present in...

9 hours ago

A member body representing some prominent wealth managers is concerned super funds’ dominance is sidelining small companies in capital markets....

1 day 6 hours ago

While the latest quarterly CPI print exceeded expectations, most economists still anticipate a rate cut, especially amid growing downside risks to global growth stemming ...

1 day 6 hours ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS

ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
93.34 3 y p.a(%)
2
5
Plato Global Alpha A
28.73 3 y p.a(%)