Welcome to Investment Intel: Australia. Amidst headlines in the Australian business press this week about earnings results and SMSF conference discussions, we have selected the key articles offering insights into the Australian market for Asian investment managers.

If you have any comments or feedback on the newsletter, please let me know.

Best wishes,

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

Current News and Insights

Australian workers will be able to put more low-tax money into superannuation from 1 July after strong wages growth triggered the first increase in contribution limits in three years. Read more here.

The ASX has provided pricing details of its first corporate bond, a A$275 million issue of floating rate, unsecured medium-term notes. These Notes are targeted at Australian and international institutional investors. Further information can be found here.

Recent figures reveal that merger activities have driven large increases in super fundmember numbers. Read more here. Despite this strong growth, and the promise that scale would drive down member fees, the biggest industry super funds are now spending almost 20% more on admin costs than three years ago. More information can be found here.

Industry super fund Rest has allocated capital to Cibus Fund II that focuses on sustainable farming, practices and companies. This is Rest’s third impact investment. More information can be found here. Meanwhile, Aware Super’s real estate business has announced it will build 135 apartments in a build-to-rent (BTR) venture. Barings will manage this A$80 million development. More here.