Look beyond the numbers. Investing is about people: the ability to gather good information, analyse assets and create investment strategies all depends on people. And some people are better than others. Very few, however, are so wildly talented that their stories define success in the industry. “My list of iconic investors reaches 10,” says Hugh Dougherty, head of manager research with Towers Watson in Australia. “They have some kind of Midas touch. They’re out there. They’re freaks.”

JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services ( JPMorgan WSS) aims to shift Australian clients on to its global fund accounting platform by the end of next year, potentially meaning it will no longer require DST Global Solutions’ HiPortfolio system. JPMorgan WSS is now two years into the three-year ‘Project Union’, which is creating a fullyintegrated global platform for investment accounting and fund accounting. The global CEO of the business, Conrad Kozak, admits it was tricky to incorporate Australia’s idiosyncratic tax rules into a global platform, but is confident this could be done by the end of next year. Meanwhile India has become the seventh market in which JPMorgan WSS performs its own sub-custody (that is, the safekeeping and settlement of local assets).

van Eyk, the most influential research firm in the financial planning market, has a new cornerstone investor following the departure of the company’s namesake. GREG BRIGHT reports on the new-look van Eyk and the major shareholders’ plans for sustained growth. Mark Thomas has a new partner at van Eyk and, more importantly, he has the catalyst and firepower for some big changes to how his business is run and the firm’s position in the financial services market. The new cornerstone investor is Torchlight Investment Research and Management. The chairman of Torchlight, George Kerr, orchestrated the purchase of about 32 per cent of van Eyk from the firm’s co-founder, Stephen van Eyk (who retired from the firm early this year), and some small shareholders.

On May 5, just two days after announcing what his Government called the biggest superannuation reform in a lifetime, the Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, the Hon Chris Bowen, sat down with the industry to discuss three of the four reviews which have so preoccupied it this past year. Henry, Ripoll and Cooper are three names bound to echo around the halls of super funds for many years, even if the increase in the compulsory Super Guarantee (SG) from 9 to 12 per cent went against Henry’s recommendations, the banning of commissions was far stronger than anything in Ripoll’s final report, and the response to Cooper has not yet been made. This roundtable was also too early to discuss the ‘Johnson’ report on making Australia a financial services hub, which the Government ended up completely endorsing last month, including clarity that non-Australian assets managed by firms based here would not be subject to any tax liabilities. Nevertheless, the industry had plenty to ask the Minister. The result was a lively roundtable, and we thank Vanguard Investments, which claims to have never paid a commission anywhere in the world, for agreeing to sponsor it. Proceedings kicked off with the big question of whether the SG increase had any chance of getting to the Senate before a Federal election later this year.

Walk outside MTAA House in Canberra, look to the left, and you are rewarded with a pretty good view of the flags flying on Capitol Hill. But it’s not just location that Australia’s Parliament House and 39 Brisbane Avenue, Barton, have in common. The most important man in both buildings seems to be a control freak. In Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s case, the autocratic tendencies reveal themselves in a prodigious work ethic, which sees him micromanage the release of announcements at the same rate he burns out ministerial staff. Down the road, Michael Delaney is in the unique position of having created the two organsiations which take up all of level 3 at MTAA House – the Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA Ltd), and its associated industry superannuation fund, MTAA Super. At the time of writing, he remained the executive director of the former, and principal executive officer of the latter. According to those who’ve been on the boards of either or both over the years, there’s not much that goes on in this House which the boss doesn’t know about, either.

As super funds become more complex beasts, so must their trustee offices. They will need to at least consider the possibilities of cloud computing if they are to keep up, argues RAGAV JAGANNATHAN, general manager of Microsoft solutions at the IQ Business Group.