The recent schizophrenia experienced by global equities markets has come as a sobering reminder to investors that what goes up can often come down when it comes to shares.
As our cover story and feature highlight, superannuation funds - choice of investment has never been so important.
Although nobody is unscrewing the window locks of tall buildings or hiding themselves under the sofa quite yet, it is clear super funds need to diversify if they are to maintain the stunning returns of the past three years.
They are learning to eschew the more traditional listed funds management path and strike out into virgin territory, in the form of ever more diverse, unlisted direct investments.
The primary aim of this strategy is to iron out the volatility inherent in global equity markets providing strong returns for members in the long term, and consistency in the short term.
Such alternative investments are often direct and can range from purchasing infrastructure and buying up property assets, most recently the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, to hatching alliances with private equity boutiques and hedge funds.
Inevitably the superannuation industry will have to answer to those critics who question the transparency of some of these innovations, but the momentum is there, and direct investment in unlisted assets by super funds is here to stay.
As am I.
I am the new editor of Investor Weekly, replacing the enigmatic Bill McConnell, and I look forward very much to meeting as many of our readers as humanly possible over the coming months.
Our aim is to get as much feedback as possible from you in order to improve our magazine and the service we provide. We would be delighted to hear from anyone who would like to make a comment on Investor Weekly and the stories we write.
It is my firm belief this magazine belongs to its readers. Please email your comments to: [email protected].
All the best
