APRA researchers suggest new approach

australian prudential regulation authority superannuation funds federal government

7 July 2009
| By Mike Taylor |

A paper published by two Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) researchers has suggested the implementation of a new methodology whereby the overall performance of funds would be rated rather than the performance of the funds’ various investments.

The research paper was delivered to a University of NSW colloquium by Wilson Sy and Kevin Liu, and suggests a new approach “where instead of comparing investment performance of individual funds or portfolios, we compare the investment performance of management firms or their composite portfolios”.

The two researchers argue that the main advantages of this new approach are “firstly, we can apply a consistent methodology to calculate returns using audited accounting data for all firms and secondly, we avoid selection bias by making a weighted-average assessment of all portfolios managed by the firm”. “Thirdly, the investment performance of a managed firm is a quantitative measure of the effectiveness of its corporate governance.

“This firm characteristic is likely to be statistically more stable and persistent than that of individual funds which could be idiosyncratic or volatile, depending on their managers or their markets,” the research paper said.

The two researchers pointed to the Federal Government’s demand for APRA to collect more complete data from superannuation funds and said that using their proposed new performance metric, the key additional data that would be required from superannuation entities was quarterly asset allocation data of the total fund of the firms.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

This verdict highlights something deeply wrong and rotten at the heart of the FSCP. We are witnessing a heavy-handed, op...

2 days 17 hours ago

Interesting. Would be good to know the details of the StrategyOne deal....

6 days 23 hours ago

It’s astonishing to see the FAAA now pushing for more advisers by courting "career changers" and international recruits,...

3 weeks 5 days ago

Insignia Financial has made four appointments, including three who have joined from TAL, to lead strategy and innovation in its retirement solutions for the MLC brand....

2 weeks 6 days ago

A former Brisbane financial adviser has been charged with 26 counts of dishonest conduct regarding a failure to disclose he would receive substantial commission payments ...

5 days 21 hours ago

Pinnacle Investment Management has announced it will acquire strategic interests in two international fund managers for $142 million....

5 days ago