Welcome to the latest edition of Investment Intel: Australia. This newsletter is carefully prepared by the team at APAC Financial Services to keep Asian investment managers up to date on key activities in the Australian market.

With the Easter break, our next edition of Investment Intel: Australia will be on Friday 5 April.

If you have any feedback on the newsletter or would like further information about our services, please let me know.

Best wishes,

David Thomas
APAC Financial Services
Email: davidthomas@apacfinancialservices.com

Current News and Insights

Australian Retirement Trust (ART), the country’s second largest super fund, recently explained its approach to investing in China. The super fund said that while there are risks in the market, avoiding China altogether would not be a beneficial strategy. Read more here.  

ART also shed light on external manager selection, citing organisation, strategy, risk, ESG, expected performance, fees, and portfolio fit as important factors. More information can be found here. The fund also unveiled a new suite of investment options across superannuation and retirement products that are available to its members from 1 July 2024. More on this here.

Earlier this week the Reserve Bank announced it was maintaining Australia’s official cash rate at 4.35% and said it was determined to return inflation to its target range of 2 to 3% by the second half of the year. More details here.

Australia's unemployment rate has fallen sharply to 3.7%, a drop from last month's figure of 4.1% that, while positive news for the economy, lessens the chance of an interest rate cut anytime soon. More here.

A recent report reveals that over the next 20 years Australia’s industry funds will hold more than 50% of super assets, with retail funds holding 23% and SMSF’s holding 22%. Currently industry funds hold 44% with retail funds holding 23% and SMSF’s holding 27%. More information can be found here.

There are ongoing forecasts about further consolidation in Australia’s super industry, with an expected emergence of around 12 mega-funds by 2028. Over the past 10 years, the sector has gone from 200 funds to 104 funds as of 1 January 2024. More details here.