Category: Pensions and Retirement Funds

1
Australia: Preparing for the Extension of the Superannuation Performance Test to Trustee-Directed Products
2
Australia: ASIC Releases Report on Recent Greenwashing Actions
3
Australia: ASIC Reports on DDO Compliance by Investment Product Issuers
4
United States: SEC Staff Finds Safeguarding Policies and Procedures Lacking at Branch Offices
5
APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 3: Separate Managed Accounts vs Funds of One

Australia: Preparing for the Extension of the Superannuation Performance Test to Trustee-Directed Products

By Jim Bulling and Grace Hall

The release of draft regulations by the Australian Government and publications by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) provide further guidance to regulated superannuation funds on how annual performance assessments (the performance test) will apply to trustee-directed products.

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Australia: ASIC Releases Report on Recent Greenwashing Actions

By Matthew Watts and Rebecca Mangos

The Australia Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has published a report on its regulatory interventions made between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2023 in relation to greenwashing concerns (which can be accessed here). The report covers ASIC’s issuance of greenwashing infringement notices during the period and its observed increase in representations made by listed companies, managed funds and superannuation funds on environmental, social and governance credentials.

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Australia: ASIC Reports on DDO Compliance by Investment Product Issuers

By Kane Barnett and Bernard Sia

On 3 May 2023 the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released its review on compliance by investment product issuers of the Design and Distribution Obligations (DDOs). In ASIC’s view, there is still considerable room for improvement by product issuers.

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United States: SEC Staff Finds Safeguarding Policies and Procedures Lacking at Branch Offices

By: Keri Riemer and Brian Doyle-Wenger

On 26 April, 2023, shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rule amendments that would require broker-dealers and investment advisers (collectively, firms) to comply with enhanced compliance requirements relating to sensitive customer information, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (staff) issued a risk alert highlighting the need for firms to have written policies and procedures for safeguarding customer records and information at their branch offices.

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APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 3: Separate Managed Accounts vs Funds of One

By Scott Peterman

In our last post, we itemized several incentives motivating many institutional investors to favor management of their investment assets in a separate managed account (SMA) or fund-of-one as opposed to investing those assets in a commingled fund. A key distinction between investing assets in an SMA or fund-of-one that is often overlooked is that the owner/investor in an SMA directly owns those investment assets. This is not true of an investor investing in a fund-of-one. In the latter, the fund owns those assets, not the investor. 

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