Catagory:Pensions and Retirement Funds

1
Australia: ASIC Releases Report on Recent Greenwashing Actions
2
Australia: ASIC Reports on DDO Compliance by Investment Product Issuers
3
United States: SEC Staff Finds Safeguarding Policies and Procedures Lacking at Branch Offices
4
APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 3: Separate Managed Accounts vs. Funds of One
5
APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 2: Managed Accounts vs. Commingled Funds
6
APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts – An Overview
7
Australia: APRA Provides Insight into 2023 Priorities
8
Europe: Asset Managers – Are You Ready for Climate-Related Reporting Under UK TCFD?
9
Australia: Superannuation Trustees Urged to Improve Member Engagement
10
United Arab Emirates: SCA Overhauls Regulations Governing Foreign Fund Offerings

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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APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts—Part 2: Managed Accounts vs. Commingled Funds

By Scott Peterman

In our last post, we suggested that managed accounts of whatever structure have become more and more popular among institutional investors. Our list included advantages of managed accounts often seen in print or discussed among panel participants in seminars. We did not, however, itemize all of the incentives motivating many institutional investors to prefer managed accounts over commingled funds. We’ll do so now to introduce and illuminate the reasons why and how conflicts of interest are created when fund managers manage separate client accounts alongside commingled funds. And, hopefully, give you some takeaways when managing your own investment management business.

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APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts – An Overview

By Scott Peterman

Over the last 20 years, managed accounts have become increasingly popular. A managed account is a portfolio of securities managed by a single manager on behalf of a single investor. These special arrangements are especially popular among institutional investor seeking:

  • More control over investment decisions (positive or negative control; veto rights);
  • Access to institutional quality investment managers;
  • Direct ownership of underlying assets;
  • Better fee terms;
  • Longer investment horizons; and
  • Other considerations, such as Sharia compliance, special portfolio “tilts” such as ESG.
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Europe: Asset Managers – Are You Ready for Climate-Related Reporting Under UK TCFD?

By Maya Ffrench-Adam and Andrew Massey

1 January 2023 marked the latest regulatory milestone in the UK’s phased implementation of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.

The TCFD – first set up in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board – is an international body that has issued recommendations, targeted at multiple sectors, for disclosing climate-related financial information.

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Australia: Superannuation Trustees Urged to Improve Member Engagement

By Jim Bulling and Anabelle Weinberg

Australian Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, has urged superannuation trustees to ‘step up to the mark’ on member engagement and satisfaction following a recent report from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

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United Arab Emirates: SCA Overhauls Regulations Governing Foreign Fund Offerings

By: C. Todd Gibson, Amjad Hussain, and Zaid Abu-Shattal

The Securities and Commodities Authority (“SCA”), the federal financial regulatory agency in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) issued on 16 January 2023 a suite of new decisions and regulations, which introduced sweeping changes to the public distribution of foreign funds in the UAE.

Pursuant to SCA Chairman of the Board of Directors Decision No. 4/RM of 2023 Concerning the Procedures of Adjustment of Situation to Promote Units of Foreign Funds in the UAE (“Foreign Funds Regulations”), which came into effect on 17 January 2023, promotion of foreign funds in the UAE is now limited to private distribution to professional investors and/or market counterparties, as defined in the SCA Rulebook. As of today, the updated regulations are only available in Arabic.

Amongst other obligations set out in the Foreign Funds Regulations, promoters of foreign funds in the UAE must amend their arrangements with managers of foreign funds to comply with the provisions of the Foreign Funds Regulations.

The Foreign Funds Regulations state that promoters may continue performing their obligations pursuant to contracts that are still in force for a period not exceeding six months from 1 January 2023 or until the expiration of such contracts (whichever comes first), provided that the registration of the concerned foreign funds are renewed within the transitional period and payment of the prescribed fees are made to the SCA.

The SCA seems to want to encourage global asset managers to set up an onshore presence and establish onshore domestic public or private funds to target investors in the UAE in accordance with the new requirements and processes that were also issued on 16 January 2023 under the SCA Chairman of the Board of Directors Decision No. 1/RM of 2023 on the Regulation of Investment Funds. The SCA also issued decisions with respect to regulations governing the registration of securities for listing purposes, amending certain provisions of the SCA Rulebook, clearing activities in local commodity markets, and SCA services fees.

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