Black Kite Partners, which opened its doors earlier this year, has welcomed Lucinda Abood to drive value in their portfolios. She brings over three decades of experience, including various C-suite roles in technology and healthcare-related businesses.

As managing director, portfolio value creation, Abood will lead Black Kite's value creation capability, working alongside portfolio company leadership teams and the firm's functional operating partners to drive growth, operational performance and exit readiness. She is joined by operating partners James Scollay, Laura Thomas, Roger Burgess and Simon Martin, and AI specialist in residence Jed Watson at the portfolio support department of the firm.

Most recently, Abood was the operating partner and head of portfolio value creation at Five V Capital, where she established its portfolio value creation function.

She was the chief transformation and operating officer at Direct Group - owned by CPE Capital - for more than a year. She also served as chief executive at Independent Living Specialists, a healthcare assistive technology solutions provider, before that.

Black Kite co-founder and managing partner David Odgers said: "Value creation is crucial to generating strong investor returns, and Lucinda has done this twice over: first as an operator running businesses herself, then building a value creation function at one of the market's most respected firms."

"Adding Lucinda to our senior team is a statement of intent for Black Kite. Lucinda's experience and drive will make us better partners to our portfolio companies and help them convert ambition into results faster."

Abood said: What drew me to Black Kite is the firm's conviction that value is created through genuine partnership with founders and management teams, backed by a team with first-hand experience building and running businesses.

"I am looking forward to working side by side with our portfolio leaders to help them build exceptional companies."

The firm also appointed its chief operating officer from MST Financial, a company she's stayed for almost eight years, in August.

Black Kite, the private equity investment manager, was launched in March this year by three former IFM Investors executives.

In October 2025, IFM announced it was dumping its private equity strategy to prioritise global investments, explaining it had struggled to scale the local strategy. Some $1 billion was invested in the private equity portfolio, representing 0.4% of IFM's allocation.

With around $1.3 billion in funds under advice, Black Kite targets technology and healthcare businesses operating in the lower and mid-market range, earning between $10 million to $250 million in annual revenue.

Founders Odgers, Adrian Kerley and Stuart Wardman-Browne carved out IFM's former private equity team to launch the new firm after working together for several years.

Wardman-Browne spent nearly a decade at IFM as the head of private markets. Odgers and Kerley spent more than seven years as executive directors in the unit.

Of the 10,697 breaches in FY26, a single insurer accounted for 10,105, who has been sanctioned. The committee also sanctioned another insurer for collecting customers' data without medical authority in March.

None of the insurers above were named.

The report also noted the current priority lays on the revised Life Code (Code), signifying issues emerging from the industry, including claims handling, mental health, vulnerability and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers.

The Council of Australian Life Insurers has commissioned an independent review, led by Peter Kell, which made 85 recommendations to the Code.

"Importantly, we made practical recommendations about where future Code commitments could be clarified or strengthened," the Life CCC said.

"This allowed the lessons from our oversight of the current Code to contribute directly to consideration of the standards and protections that will apply under the future Code."

Life CCC chair Jan McClelland highlighted claims remain a clear priority moving forward, with further work into claims handling "already underway" and believes the new Code will strengthen protections for customers.

"The value of this work lies not only in dealing with individual instances of non-compliance, but in making sure the lessons from them inform improvements in industry practice," she said.

"Over the past year, we have used what we learned from serious breaches, allegations and broader inquiries to strengthen accountability, influence industry discussion and contribute to the development of the next Code."

McClelland said the committee has also strengthened accountability for breaches and brought wider attention to problems affecting customers in the financial year.

"Our work throughout the year saw us act on serious non-compliance and follow significant breaches through to remediation and corrective action. We considered not only individual matters but also the broader systemic issues that carry wider consequences for consumers and industry practice," she said.

"That wider perspective was important in areas where customer protections depend heavily on how insurers apply the Code in practice.

"Our inquiries into mental health underwriting and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers identified barriers, gaps and areas where insurer practice could improve. They also provided important insights to inform broader industry discussion."

Meanwhile, the committee noted a significant improvement in investigation time, cutting the average from 12 months to seven months, and was able to finalise 111 allegations out of the 120 received during the year.

"The investigations identified issues related to vulnerability and financial hardship, claims handling, distributor obligations and surveillance, resulting in four Code breaches," Life CCC said.

"We also reduced the average time taken to finalise an investigation significantly, from 12 months to seven. We achieved this by streamlining our investigation processes and improving how we organised and progressed matters, reducing delays and allowing investigations to be resolved more efficiently."

The committee will publish the findings of its claims handling inquiry and continue contributing to the development of the new Code in the current financial year.

Treasury recently commenced a targeted consultation on the distributions of the 2026-27 special levy for the CSLR.

This comes after the CSLR operator announced in July estimated claim costs for 2026-27 were $190.3 million. As the costs exceed the annual levy cap, the CSLR legislation provides for the imposition of a special levy to fund the excess costs so the scheme can continue paying compensation to eligible consumers.

"Financial advice has already paid its $20 million CSLR cap for the 2026/27 year. Adding another $10 million means about $660 more per adviser, on top of the $1312 they've already paid for this year," FAAA chief executive Sarah Abood said.

"For a profession almost entirely made up of small businesses, a profession that has also almost halved since 2019, that is not marginal. The additional advice allocation should be zero."

FAAA also recommended Treasury reassess superannuation trustees as connected to the failures of Shield and First Guardian and be allocated to pay the CSLR.

"The exclusion of superannuation trustees in relation to Shield and First Guardian is difficult to reconcile with the [Treasury] paper's own test. ASIC has commenced proceedings against every superannuation trustee that made these funds available on its platform," FAAA said.

"Trustees' decisions to include these funds on their investment menus, and the lack of adequate monitoring thereafter, formed a large part of the pathway to loss."

Abood said FAAA is calling for greater transparency around the attribution of major CSLR matters to connected sectors.

"ASIC has taken action against super trustees that put Shield and First Guardian on their platforms. In that context we believe that the decision to attribute Shield and First Guardian matters only to managed investment schemes (MISs) and financial advice should be reviewed," Abood added.

"In addition, research houses, social media platforms and auditors have all played a part in these collapses, and they should share the cost.

"A sustainable CSLR depends on stopping these costs from entering the scheme in the first place, and more attention needs to be paid to prevention, and stopping these collapses much earlier."

The new AMP Super app will bring retirement projections, personalised digital advice and pension management together. AMP said the app aims to move beyond basic balance and performance information to give members a clearer view of their retirement outlook.

AMP's latest Retirement Confidence Pulse found just 52% of Australians feel financially confident about retirement, while 58% are concerned their saving could run out.

AMP group executive superannuation and investment Melinda Howes said members were seeking greater clarity about whether their savings would be enough.

"This new digital experience brings together advice, retirement planning and income management in one place, making it easier for members to understand their position, make informed decisions and manage their retirement income with confidence," Howes said.

"Our members want to know whether they're on track for retirement and what practical steps they can take to improve their future financial security."

Eligible members can access projected retirement incomes and estimates of how long their savings may last, alongside personalised digital advice covering areas such and contributions and investments.

The app also includes Lifetime Boost, which may improve future Age Pension outcomes for eligible members who later choose AMP Lifetime Retirement Income.

Members can manage pension payments, view payment schedules, adjust eligible payments and submit withdrawal requests, while functionality, including investment and insurance management and performance tracking.

Howes said AMP's research showed the need to improve retirement confidence despite the strength of Australia's superannuation system.

"Our research shows too many Australians are still uncertain about whether they'll have enough money to retire with confidence," Howes said.

"That is not good enough when you consider the quality of our super system and the savings it's helping Australians build."

The experience follows AMP Super receiving an Epic Retirement Tick, recognising its retirement products, advice, services and digital capabilities. This comes as AMP continues to expand its digital presence, launching North Protect earlier this week to make it easier for eligible clients to consolidate group insurance with their superannuation and investments on North.

The AMP-commissioned survey of 2000 Australians was conducted by Dynata in July 2026.

McCormack will join after three years as chief executive at mecwacare, a Victorian not-for-profit provider of residential aged care, home care, retirement living and disability services.

"This was a very difficult decision for me to make. My time at mecwacare has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my career. I'm incredibly proud of what we've achieved over the past few years and grateful to have led an organisation so deeply committed to improving the lives of older people and their families," McCormack said.

"I'm not going far; I'm looking forward to continuing to work in an industry I care deeply about and building on the work I've been fortunate to be part of throughout my career."

McCormack takes over the position from Prue Bowden after her resignation. Bowden joined Australian Unity in 2017 and worked across transformation, people and culture roles before taking responsibility for the home health business four years ago.

"Together, we've grown home health to more than $1 billion in annual revenue, supporting more than 160,000 customers and building a more integrated healthcare business spanning home care, mental health and hospital-in-the-home services," Bowden said.

"Growth came organically and through strategic acquisitions, grounded in a belief that intelligent scale matters if we are to deliver better, more integrated care to more Australians.

"I leave incredibly proud of what we have achieved and the foundations we have laid for the future. I wish Anne McCormack every success as she takes on the leadership of Home Health from January."

Australian Unity said: "We thank Bowden for her commitment to Australian Unity and the significant contribution she has made over her tenure and wish her well for the future."

Australian Unity has also appointed Mark Potter as the group executive of technology, effective November 2026. Potter comes to Australian Unity after five years as chief information officer at Optus.

Potter succeeds Mark Gay, who is retiring from the technology role after commencing in 2022.

The board and management team said they look forward to welcoming McCormack and Potter and to the contribution they will make in advancing the group's strategy and member-focused approach.

Rainmaker information analysis of 40 superannuation funds found the average proportion of assets managed internally increased from 9.3% in 2019 to 22.1% in 2025.

The shift was most pronounced across liquid asset classes, where larger funds have increasingly built the sale and capability to manage investments directly.

Cash recorded the largest increase, with the proportion of assets managed internally rising by 26 percentage points over the period, followed by Australian equities, which increased by 21.6 percentage points.

Internal management also increased across Australian fixed income, infrastructure, internal fixed income, and property. Private equity, however, continued to rely heavily on specialist external managers.

Rainmaker Information associated director research, Camille Schmidt said the trend reflected the growing capabilities of large super funds.

"The research shows internalisation is a defining feature of Australia's superannuation sector, although the trend is far from uniform across all asset classes," Schmidt said.

"Growing scale is allowing some funds to bring more investment capability in-house, particularly in areas where they believe direct management can improve efficiency and member outcomes."

Despite the shift, external managers remain an important part of superannuation investment strategies. Rainmakers' analysis of around 8400 mandate relationships found external mandates typically lasted around 2.9 years.

Schmidt said funds were increasingly taking a selective approach to deciding what capabilities to retain internally and where to use external expertise.

"While the trend towards in-house asset management is expected to continue, the emerging model is selective internalisation across both public and private markets, combined with external managers where they provide differentiated expertise, access, capacity or risk diversification," Schmidt said.

For institutional managers, the shift is creating a more competitive mandate market.

"Winning and retaining mandates will increasingly require managers to demonstrate capabilities that super funds cannot readily, or cost effectively develop and maintain in-house," Schmidt said.

She said managers would need to demonstrate scale, specialist capabilities, and sustained performance to deliver value as super funds become larger and more sophisticated.

Tributes have poured in after Morecroft died on Tuesday, 6 October, on the NSW South Coast, following a cancer diagnosis he revealed in July this year. His partner of 36 years, artist Alison Mackay, was by his side.

Morecroft was one of the country's most recognisable newsreaders, serving as the face of the ABC's 7pm NSW television news for almost two decades, from 1983 until 2002.

Beyond the nightly news, he presented election-night coverage, educational and wildlife programs, and the ABC children's current affairs program Behind the News.

After stepping down from the ABC news desk, he returned to television as host of SBS' Letters and Numbers from 2010 to 2012.

"I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Richard Morecroft. As the face and the voice of the news of the ABC, Richard became a beloved part of Australian life," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.

"Combining a consummate professionalism with an unyielding humanity, Richard was a figure of absolute trust, a warm and familiar presence who guided us through the good times and bad."

Beyond his contribution to Australian media, Morecroft was also an accomplished artist and a strong supporter of the arts community. He served on the board of Bundanon, the NSW South Coast arts institution, from 2005 to 2012.

A wildlife advocate, Morecroft also held formal roles with wildlife organisations, including as a governor of the Taronga Foundation and a director of the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales. As a member of Wildlife Information and Rescue Services (WIRES), he volunteered to care for an orphaned baby flying fox named Archie, an experience that inspired his 1991 book Raising Archie.

"We pay our respects to Richard and extend our condolences to his family. We were fortunate to work with Richard at Financial Standard, where his professionalism, warmth and experience made a lasting impression on everyone who worked with him," said Christopher Page, group managing director at Rainmaker Information.

Morecroft hosted Financial Standard's flagship Marketing, Advertising and Excellence (MAX) Awards five times between 2008 to 2014.

Daniel Tait will join as general manager, investment and financial risk later this month, while Briar Dowsett will commence in a newly created role of general manager, property, in November.

In his new role, Tait will lead HESTA's investment and financial risk management capability, reporting to James Haviland, who was appointed head of risk in August alongside John O'Sullivan who also joined as deputy chief financial officer.

Tait has more than two decades of experience across financial markets, capital risk, regulatory risk and compliance. He is currently the investments line 1 risk leader at Aware Super, a role he's held fore more than three years. Previously, he held senior risk roles at National Australia Bank (NAB) and AustralianSuper in Melbourne, as well as Clydesdale Bank, ING, and Deutsche Asset Management across the UK and Netherlands earlier in his career.

Commenting, HESTA chief risk officer Natalie Alford said she is excited to welcome Tait.

"Daniel's deep superannuation and investment risk expertise, combined with his strong track record of partnering with the business, will help ensure our investment and financial risk capability keeps pace as the fund continues to grow for its members," Alford said.

Tait added: "I'm delighted to join HESTA as the fund enters this next stage of growth, using my skills and experience in investment risk to help the fund protect and grow members' long-term super balances."

Meanwhile, Dowsett will lead the fund's property team, bringing over 30 years' experience across super, institutional funds management and real estate. She will report to deputy chief investment officer and head of portfolio management Jeff Brunton.

Dowsett will join from QIC Real Estate, where she's stationed for almost a decade. She is currently fund manager and head of mandates. Prior to QIC, Dowsett served in senior positions across QSuper, NAB, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, BT Financial Group and KPMG.

Brunton highlighted the increasingly important role property assets play to deliver long-term returns.

"Briar's appointment to this new role will strengthen our ability to keep identifying quality opportunities, in Australia and offshore, as we continue to grow and diversify this asset class," Brunton said.

Dowsett said: "HESTA has a long and proud record of investing with purpose."

"I'm looking forward to contributing to a property portfolio that performs for members over the long term while making a positive contribution to the communities they live and work in."

The ACCC said the takeover would be unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition, saying the business was "not an effective and vigorous competitor due to its financial, operational and viability challenges".

"While GROW's presence in the market is valued by customers who consider GROW's technology, innovation and levels of customer service meet their superannuation administration services (SAS) requirements, GROW's competitive significance has been weakened by its financial position, operational challenges and uncertain future viability," the ACCC said.

"Market participants commonly referred to GROW having operational and financial challenges which has made it difficult for GROW to attract new customers as well as investors.

"In particular, market inquiries indicated that larger superannuation funds generally did not consider GROW to be a competitive alternative SAS provider due to concerns regarding its financial stability and depth of experience."

The ACCC directly pointed to prolonged disruption to HESTA members when the fund was transitioning its member services to GROW in June 2025, which led to APRA imposing additional licensing conditions on the fund in December 2025.

The ACCC said through its market inquiries, it found platforms require significant capital and time in the market to maintain and enhance functionality to meet evolving customer needs, and several large funds indicated they did not consider GROW had the capital or the scale to be a reliable provider.

The watchdog said some superannuation funds indicated they had concerns regarding GROW's long-term financial viability, which made it an unattractive service provider when considered in the context of a fund's regulatory obligations.

When considering competition in the market, the ACCC said SS&C and Apex were established alternatives with mature platforms and global capital funding.

MUFG announced in August it had entered into a binding implementation scheme to acquire GROW.

The interim stop order stops ASCF from offering, issuing, selling or transferring interests in the ASCF Premium Capital Fund, ASCF Select Income Fund, and ASCF High Yield Fund.

ASIC said it made the interim order to protect retail investors from acquiring products under a PDS that may be "defective and not worded and presented in a clear, concise, and effective manner".

ASIC is concerned that the PDS fails to disclose information about the funds' loan portfolio and diversification metrics and the information that is disclosed about these is not disclosed in a clear concise and effective manner; may contain a misleading and deceptive statement and omit information about the cost of disposing of an interest in the funds; and fails to adequately disclose details of an investor reserve account established to cover impairments and capital losses.

ASIC commissioner Simone Constant said strong standards were essential in the private credit sector.

"Firms must ensure their disclosures to investors are transparent and support informed decision making, including to help investors understand the strategies and risks of their products," Constant said.

"As foreshadowed in all our work in the private credit space, where ASIC identifies disclosure concerns, we will act swiftly to protect investors from potential harm and promote higher standards across the sector."

ASIC said it will consider making final orders if the concerns are not addressed in a timely manner. ASCF will have an opportunity to make submissions before a decision is made about any final stop orders.

The interim stop order arose from ASIC's surveillance of private credit funds which is focused on the distribution of private credit funds to retail clients through direct and advised channels, also fees, margin structures and conflict-of-interest management in wholesale private credit funds.

This surveillance is being conducted as part of ASIC's ongoing work in response to Australia's evolving capital markets.

At 30 June 2026, the ASCF funds had $251.8 million in assets under management.

The funds each invest in short-term mortgages secured over Australian real property.

Morphic AM was integrated into Ellerston Capital in 2019 and has been the investment manager of the fund since March 2017.

The fund told the ASX it was "considering the appropriate corporate actions following receipt of the notice of intention to terminate", with further updates to be provided to the market.

Under the agreement, termination by the manager requires six months' written notice, during which Morphic will continue to perform its obligations.

In its August 2026 monthly performance report, the fund had returned -3.7% versus the MSCI All Countries World Daily Return Net Index which returned 0.6% over the same period.

In 2021 Ellerston Capital terminated the Morphic Global Opportunities Fund as a result of dwindling funds under management.

Ellerston acquired a controlling stake in Morphic Asset Management in June 2019, with Morphic becoming a subsidiary of Ellerston.

According to Ellerston, the Morphic Ethical Equities Fund was the only remaining Morphic Asset Management fund under its umbrella.

The Morphic Ethical Equities Fund excluded direct investments in entities involved in environmental destruction, including coal and uranium mining, oil and gas, intensive animal farming and aquaculture, tobacco and alcohol, armaments, gambling and rainforest and old growth logging.

It also donated 2.5% of management fees Bush Heritage.

Saad was an authorised representative of Interprac Financial Planning between 17 June 2016 and 31 December 2021 and provided financial advice to retail investors through Venture Egg.

The regulator alleges Saad's entities, Atlas Marketing and United Capital, received about $34 million from entities connected to the First Guardian and the Shield Master Funds, with some of the funds allegedly used for his personal benefit and that of associated individuals and entities.

ASIC also alleges money was directed towards marketing and lead-generation businesses that referred thousands of prospective clients to Venture Egg and Financial Services Group Australia, which recommended investments in Shield, Fist Guardian or both.

ASIC chair Sarah Court said the alleged conduct struct at protections intended to ensure advice is not influenced by financial incentives.

"Conflicted remuneration laws are there to protect consumers by banning payments and other benefits that could influence the advice they receive, or the financial products recommended to them," Court said.

Between February and December 2021, ASIC alleges Saad advised 217 retail clients to roll over more than $25 million of superannuation into First Guardian.

The regulator alleges the advice failed to meet best interest obligations, was inappropriate and places Saad's interests ahead of those of his clients.

"We allege Mr Saad participated in schemes to avoid these laws, and his companies were paid tens of millions of dollars by entities linked to First Guardian and Shield," Court said.

ASIC is seeking declarations and pecuniary penalties, as well as orders preventing Saad from providing financial services and disqualifying him from managing corporations.

The proceedings form part of ASIC's broader enforcement response to the collapse of First Guardian and Shield, with the regulator describing its investigation as among its largest and most complex.

"We have now commenced 17 proceedings in connection with our ongoing investigations, and we expect to take further action," Court said.

RQI did not name the Australian super fund. Financial Standard has reached out for comment.

The RQI Emerging Markets Diversified Alpha Fund draws on the firm's 15-year emerging markets track record and uses a range of data sources to identify investment opportunities while maintaining a focus on risk management.

The strategy targets long-term capital growth and income, with an objective of outperforming the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by 2% a year over the long-term at similar levels of risk.

The launch adds to RQI's Diversified Alpha suite, which also includes the recently launched Global Diversified Alpha Fund, and follows several new mandates awarded to the manager globally this year.

RQI Investors chief executive Andrew Francis said the backing from a major client reflected growing confidence in the firm's systematic investment approach.

"The decision by a major client to seed our Emerging Markets Diversified Alpha strategy, together with the award of new mandates, are strong endorsements of our investment capabilities and reflect growing recognition of the value that quantitative investing can bring to client portfolios," Francis said.

He said demand across markets and client segments was creating opportunities to develop strategies around investor needs while maintaining focus on performance.

RQI has also expanded its team to 25 professionals with four new hires across investment, research and client capabilities.

John Conomos joins as investment director from Macquarie Group, where he was head of global quantitative research. Chang Hwan Sung has joined as senior quantitative portfolio manager, while having previously held roles at Invesco, BlackRock and Samsung Asset Management.

Sam Machen joins as quantitative research developer from Jacobi, while James Sutherland joins as quantitative researcher from Tibra Capital.

Francis said the appointments would strengthen RQI's research and investment capabilities as the business grows.

"These appointments deepen our investment and research capabilities, and reflect our continued commitment to innovation, strategy development and strong client outcomes," he said.

The appointments follow a year of new mandates and product expansion for RQI, with the manager positioning its systematic approach for further growth in Australia and overseas.

Justice Anderson on October 6 appointed Adrian Robert Hunter and Jonathon Kingsley Colbran of RSM Australia Partners as joint and several receivers and managers to the property of Star Investment Group Australia and Gondal Holdings, and as joint and several receivers to the property of director Ijaz Ahmad.

The orders follow ASIC's application to the court in September seeking to preserve assets and protect investors while its investigation continued.

The court's earlier asset preservation disclosure and travel restraint orders made on September 15 remain in place. The matter has now been adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.

Financial Standard understands Ahmad left Australia in April 2025 and is currently overseas.

ASIC's investigation centres on an investment scheme operated by Star Investment Group Australia and associated with the  Lake Narracan Resort development in Victoria. The regulator previously told the court there were reasonable grounds to suspect contraventions of the Corporations Act and ASIC Act.

The September orders restrained Star Investment, Gondal Holdings and Ahmad from dealing with or dissipating assets, subject to limited exceptions, while requiring information about their assets and liabilities to be provided to the court.

ASIC has said the proceedings are intended to identify, preserve and protect assets that may be available to investors and other affected parties, while its investigation examines matters including fundraising, financial records, directors' duties and potential misleading or deceptive conduct.

The regulator's action relates to funds raised through investments in Star Investment and the Lake Narracan development, with Gondal Holdings owning the development land. ASIC's investigation remains ongoing.

The appointment of receivers represents a further escalation in the proceedings, giving the independent appointees responsibility for assessing the affairs and property of the entities and Ahmad in accordance with the court orders.

ASIC has previously stressed that the court's findings at the interim stage concern protective orders and that Ahmad had not yet had an opportunity to respond to its application.

The review, led by board governance and compliance committee chair Rebecca McGrath, considered documents shared with Macquarie by KPMG and an Allens report on KPMG e-comms which sought to identify any misuse of Macquarie or third-party confidential information in connection with the audit tender, or any other breach of the audit tender process rules.

"The e-comms raised additional questions around KPMG's use of Macquarie's confidential information beyond the agreed protocols of the audit tender process, evidencing the culture issues cited by Macquarie in August 2026 as one reason for no longer recommending KPMG as its preferred auditor," Macquarie said.

"McGrath's review also considered matters concerning two of Macquarie's non-executive directors, Michelle Hinchliffe and Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz. The boards sought independent advice on these matters from Tom Bathurst."

Hinchliffe met with KPMG staff before and during the audit tender process, in both a professional and personal capacity. Hinchliffe also interacted with the three firms participating in the tender process, in Macquarie's interests, but recused herself from scoring and decision-making.

Lloyd-Hurwitz sent an email to a KPMG partner during the audit tender process, seeking a meeting in relation to general careers advice for one of her children which did not eventuate. Similar requests were made to other companies from a range of industries around the same time.

Macquarie said Bathurst concluded that neither Ms Hinchliffe nor Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz breached their fiduciary or statutory duties or Macquarie's policies or rules.

"Having considered the review findings, the boards remain fully supportive of Ms Hinchliffe and Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz. They each make key contributions and their respective skills are highly valuable to the boards' effectiveness," Macquarie said.

"While the review found no breach of duties, policies or audit tender rules, the boards recognise that auditor independence, conflicts management and governance standards are of significant interest to shareholders and other stakeholders.

"The boards acknowledge the importance of considering both actual and perceived conflicts and are committed to strengthening Macquarie's approach wherever improvements can be made."

Mcquarie added that for any future audit tender process, its tender rules will be reviewed including with respect to restrictions on personal contact with participating audit firms during the tender period.

"As part of its usual annual refresh, the Board Conflicts of Interest Policy will also be externally reviewed for any potential improvements having regard to evolving best practice," it said.

Established in February 1993, the fund is one of Australia's long-standing listed property securities strategies, providing actively managed exposure to Australian listed real estate securities.

The fund is managed by CBRE Investment Management Listed Real Assets, the listed real asset solution within CBRE Investment Management.

With the appointment of the CBRE Australian Property Securities Fund, CIML is now Responsible Entity for all four CBRE IM Real Assets funds offered in Australia.

It has acted as Responsible Entity for the CBRE Global Real Assets Fund since December 2023, with the relationship expanding in December 2024 to include the CBRE Global Property Securities Fund and the CBRE Global Infrastructure Securities Fund.

Channel also provides distribution, marketing, operations, and client services for the range.

Channel co-head of distribution Luke Mandekic said Channel was pleased to have the relationship expanded.

"Advisers are increasingly seeking specialist real assets capabilities from trusted global managers, and this appointment further strengthens our ability to support them with access to high-quality property and infrastructure strategies through a consistent and well-supported platform," Mandekic said.

"The CBRE Australian Property Securities Fund is independently rated 'Highly Recommended' by both Lonsec and Zenith Investment Partners, reflecting the strength of its investment process, experienced management team, and robust track record."

CBRE IM Listed Real Assets portfolio manager Justin Pica added: "Listed real estate continues to offer investors access to high-quality real assets, attractive income characteristics and portfolio diversification benefits. We are pleased to partner with Channel to broaden access to this capability and support investors seeking long-term opportunities within the listed property sector."

"This appointment builds on our successful partnership with Channel and reflects the confidence we have in their governance and operational capabilities. For investors, it means continuity through the same investment team, the same strategy and the same commitment to strong client outcomes."

The holding company behind the Advice Designer software platform and WeatlhTech consultancy services has merged with Vokke, an ISO-certified software engineer who helped build the Advice Designer platform.

Vokke has operated since 2015 and offers the Vokke's Navi AI agent platform and Vokke Cloud, a sovereign private cloud hosted in Melbourne.

The merger brings together a team of 28 across the two brands serving wealth management, defence and manufacturing, and brings engineering, AI implementation and Australian-hosted infrastructure together with Finura's consulting and domain expertise, giving the group the full capability to build, implement and run AI for highly regulated industries, it said.

Under the partnership, Advice Designer will release the first of a series of new AI capabilities in late 2026, while Vokke's AI implementation methodology will be co-delivered with Finura's consulting team to wealth management customers.

Vokke's Navi AI agent platform will also become available to Finura's broader network.

Meanwhile, Finura and Vokke will continue to operate under their existing brands, with their respective teams, customers and services remaining in place, the parties confirmed.

The founders of Finura Peter Worn and Aron Satchell will sit alongside Vokke founders Jon Wellman and Adrian Grayson-Widarsito as directors of Finura Group, with Worn leading the combined group as executive chair.

Commenting, Worn noted financial advice is being rebuilt on AI.

"Finura has been working with Vokke for many years," Worn said.

"They have the right balance of entrepreneurial thinking, customer focus and the highest standards of security and governance. Bringing that engineering inside the group means we can now build at the speed this market is moving, on infrastructure we own, in a country that increasingly cares about AI and data sovereignty.

"In Jon and Adrian, we have found two business partners who are world-class software engineers who share the same values that drive us. I couldn't think of a stronger team to build an enduring next-generation Australian technology company."

Wellman echoed Worn's sentiment, stating the merger would create new opportunities for both businesses.

"As a combined business, we are stronger together," Wellman said.

"Finura has deep expertise in wealth technology and a strong position in the advice market, and we know the combination benefits our team and our customers.

"Vokke continues as a distinct brand. Our ISO certifications, our defence work, our team and our security posture remain core to our proposition. Adrian and I are excited to use the scale of the combined group to accelerate our AI products and services."

HUB24 remains a strategic partner, maintaining its existing stake in Finura Digital.

Emma McLintic has joined the business as chief people officer, based in its London office.

She brings more than 20 years' experience in human resources and people leadership across professional services, consulting and global organisations. Most recently, she served as strategic talent director at EY.

Throughout her 12-year tenure, McLintic held senior leadership roles across talent, workforce strategy and organisational transformation, including partner of acquisition and integration lead, as well as senior HR business partner. Before that, she worked in similar capacities at Capgemini Consulting and Accenture.

Welcoming McLintic, Bravura Solutions group chief executive Colin Greenhill said her experience will be central to shaping the business' culture.

"We are pleased to welcome Emma McLintic to Bravura. She brings many years of impressive experience gained in professional services, and her knowledge and expertise in organisational transformation, leadership and people strategy will be central to shaping our culture and capability as we enter the next phase of Bravura's growth," Greenhill said.

McLintic added: "I am delighted to be joining Bravura Solutions at such an exciting stage for the business."

"Throughout my career, I have seen the important role people, leadership and culture play in organisational success.

"I look forward to working with colleagues across the business to build on Bravura's strengths, support its people and help create an environment where individuals and teams can perform at their best."

Bravura is dual listed on the ASX and the Alternative Investment Market, the sub-market of the London Stock Exchange. After bidding farewell to its former chief financial officer Neil Montford last month, the company announced its managing director for Asia Pacific and a director of growth for the same region.

State Street's 2026 Digital Assets Study shows APAC investors are leading the way in digital asset investment, with an emphasis on increased focus on trust, cybersecurity, regulation and market infrastructure as global adoption accelerates.

More than half (56%) of APAC respondents expect on-chain digital asset investment to become mainstream within five years, compared with 51% globally. In addition, 32% expect at least a quarter of their assets to be tokenised over the same period, compared with 28% globally.

The sentiment is leading alongside better operational readiness, with 33% of APAC respondents already managing or distributing digital assets, while another 39% have the provider relationships and infrastructure in place to respond to client demand, compared with 35% and 28%, respectively, globally.

It also found ETFs have become the "leading" vehicle for digital assets - with APAC leading all regions in current ETF use, State Street found.

Cost reduction and efficiency were identified by 55% of APAC respondents as the greatest expected benefit of shifting to digital assets, followed by revenue growth (25%) and investment returns (20%).

Still, in Australia, first-mover costs are seemingly the top barrier for any investors moving forward with the asset class, a separate report from BlockchainAPAC showed.

Commenting, State Street head of digital asset solutions Angus Fletcher highlighted what stood out in the region.

"What stands out in APAC is the combination of growing confidence and operational readiness. Five years ago, most institutions were still deciding whether digital assets mattered," Fletcher said.

He added greater regulatory guidance and clarity are supporting optimistic sentiment for mainstream adoption.

"With conversations now focused on infrastructure, operations, regulation and risk. That tells us the market is maturing," he said.

"People often focus on tokenised securities, but settlement still requires a trusted form of money.

"Digital cash preparedness currently trails broader digital asset readiness, but the institutions we surveyed are focusing on it, with most expecting to develop these capabilities within the next one to two years."

Further, institutional investors remain the "primary target" for APAC asset managers distributing digital assets, with close to four in five (79%) identifying institutional investors as main client base, compared with 45% targeting digitally native retail investors.

"As digital asset markets mature, long-term success will depend not on speed, but on resilience, interoperability, compliance and trust. To capture the opportunities ahead, APAC institutional investors need to build the foundations now, with institutional-grade controls and future-ready technology ahead of large-scale allocation shifts," Fletcher added.

The comments follow One Nation's proposal offering Australians paying rent or a mortgage 3% of their compulsory super contributions directly to them for up to three years.

The SMC argues there are more politicians tempering with the super sector to "solve other policy problems".

"Super has one job: to grow Australians' retirement savings to deliver them the strongest possible retirement income by investing only in members' best financial interests," SMC said.

"Australians are crystal clear that their super should only be invested where it can deliver them the strongest possible long-term risk-adjusted returns."

SMC chief executive Misha Schubert said the super funds make these investment decisions independently of governments "for very good reason", lambasting Farrell's comments.

"Comments like these are ill-informed and ill-advised. Super funds invest completely independently of governments for very good reason - they invest only in the best financial interests of their members," Schubert said.

"The role of super is to deliver the strongest possible investment returns for members. It is not the job of super funds to solve other policy problems - nor should it ever be."

Meanwhile, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia chief executive Mary Delahunty provided a moderately-toned response, stating she was opened to discussion on investment opportunities so long they benefit members.

"Super funds invest in a diverse range of sectors across the world. Whether it is Canadian airports, British energy infrastructure, or American farming, if an investment opportunity offers good returns for working Australians, super funds will likely be interested in exploring it," Delahunty said.

"Every super fund independently assesses any investment opportunity on its financial merits.

"While the idea reported today has not been raised with the superannuation sector, we would welcome a discussion with the government on it. Our sector is always on the lookout for new opportunities for funds to bring good financial returns home to Australian savers."

She reiterated SMC's argument that super fund's obligation is to act in the best financial interests of its members.

"Super funds' investments often do support the nation's trade interests; that is a byproduct, not a purpose, of investing well for members," she added.

"The US is the largest destination for super funds' international investments. America's vast and diverse markets offer good opportunities to invest for members' gain. Engagements such as the Australian Superannuation Investment Summit in the US have helped to identify these opportunities."

The changes, reflected in HESTA Super's updated 30 September Product Disclosure Statement, show investment fees and costs for the default MySuper Balanced Growth option, where most of the fund's more than one million members are invested, have fallen 10%. Over the past four years, investment fees and costs for the default option have dropped by more than 28%.

Investment fees and costs for the Balanced Growth option have been reduced from 0.58% to 0.52%. Over the past four years, these fees have fallen from 0.73% to 0.52%.

HESTA chief executive Robbie Campo said the changes reflected the fund's ongoing commitment to delivering value for its members as it continues to grow.

"In an environment where costs are rising across the economy, we're very pleased to have been able to again lower what members pay. Every dollar we save our members in fees is a dollar that stays invested and keeps working for their retirement," Campo said.

"Alongside lower investment costs, we've also reduced insurance and income stream account fees this year so members at all stages of life can see the benefit. In some cases, members will be paying hundreds of dollars less in total fees compared to last year."

HESTA chief investment officer Sonya Sawtell-Rickson said the reduction in investment fees was the result of the continued focus on ensuring members can benefit from HESTA's scale, internalisation and long-term partnerships.

"This is the fourth straight year of lower investment fees for members in our default product, supporting future retirement outcomes. As we grow, we're proud to reduce what members pay while maintaining a portfolio designed to perform across market cycles," Sawtell-Rickson said.

"That combination of strong, long-term returns and disciplined cost management can make a meaningful difference to the retirement balances of our members."

For a HESTA member with an indicative $80,000 balance invested in Balanced Growth, the latest reduction is worth around $48 a year. On top of the reductions over recent years, the member benefit is worth approximately $168 a year, compared with investment fees and costs disclosed four years ago at 30 September.

Four of HESTA's five ready-made diversified options also saw a reduction in investment fees. Investment fees and costs for members in High Growth have fallen from 0.72% to 0.55%, for Sustainable Growth from 0.75% to 0.50%, and Conservative from 0.40% to 0.37%. Investment fees for Indexed Balanced Growth, one of the fund's lowest-cost options, edged up from 0.08% to 0.09%.

Changes also apply across most of HESTA's Your Choice investment options. Fees and costs for International Shares have been reduced from 0.29% to 0.21%, Diversified Bonds from 0.32% to 0.25%, and Australian Shares from 0.23% to 0.22%. Fees and costs for Property and Infrastructure have risen slightly from 0.94% to 0.96%, as have fees for Cash and Term Deposits, from 0.03% to 0.07%.

Hett will lead the strategy, performance and ongoing evolution of BT's digital channels, including the Panorama desktop and mobile app.

His remit spans shaping the future digital experience across the platform, helping advisers engage with Panorama while supporting stronger client outcomes.

Hett joins after more than 13 years at Macquarie, where he most recently served as head of digital wealth. In that role, he led the vision, strategy and delivery of digital wealth experiences and managed a team of more than 150 product, design, engineering and delivery specialists.

He previously held a range of senior leadership positions across Macquarie's wealth management business, including responsibility for adviser-facing digital platforms.

BT said the newly created role has been established as demand grows for simpler, mobile-first wealth experiences.

BT said Hett will focus on creating more engaging and intuitive digital experiences that sport advisers throughout the advice journey and strengthen connections with their clients.

BT chief product officer Annabelle Kline said the appointment reflects BT's ambition to further strengthen Panorama's position as a leading platform for advisers.

"The most successful advice businesses are increasingly focused on technology that feels simple, integrated and aligned to the way they work and engage with clients. Our focus is making sure Panorama continues to support the way those businesses want to operate now and into the future," Kline said.

"Advice practices are evolving rapidly, and advisers are looking for technology partners that can help them run more efficient businesses while delivering seamless, connected and client-focused digital experiences that are designed around both their needs and the needs of their clients.

"Adam brings deep experience building and scaling digital wealth platforms and a strong track record of translating customer needs into practical solutions. His expertise will be invaluable as we continue to evolve Panorama and support the next stage of growth for advisers and investors."

Hett said BT's strong position in the market and clear ambition for Panorama made the opportunity particularly compelling.

"Panorama has established itself as one of Australia's leading wealth platforms, with significant scale, strong momentum, and a clear focus on adviser outcomes. What attracted me was the opportunity to help shape the next phase of its evolution and help enhance how advisers and their clients engage with Panorama through more integrated and intuitive digital experiences," Hett said.

"Advice businesses are increasingly looking for technology that is simpler, more tailored and easier to use. I'm excited to join BT and help shape the next generation of digital experiences that make it easier for advisers to engage with Panorama and for their clients to achieve their financial goals."

AFCA's work into investment and advice firms identified concerns on the appropriateness and implementation of advice, authorised representative conduct, client authority and the effectiveness of licensee supervision.

"During the reporting period, matters considered by AFCA raised concerns about inappropriate advice, misleading conduct, unauthorised activity and whether advice appropriately reflected clients' circumstances," AFCA said.

"Other referrals involved complex or higher-risk investment strategies, including self-managed superannuation arrangements and concentrated or illiquid investments."

AFCA also identified concerns about what happens after advice has been provided.

"Advice may begin with an agreed recommendation, but implementation can involve subsequent transactions, portfolio adjustments, discretionary activity or ongoing interaction between the client, adviser and investment platform," AFCA said.

"Where those activities are not supported by clear authority or move beyond the agreed strategy, consumer harm can arise even if the original advice process was appropriately documented."

It highlighted a case where transactions were conducted by an authorised representative on client accounts without appropriate client authority.

"The matter raised broader questions about whether the financial firm had adequate systems and controls to ensure transactions were appropriately authorised and whether its monitoring and supervision arrangements were capable of identifying conduct of this kind," AFCA said.

While the firm characterised the conduct as "isolated and historical", AFCA sought information on controls in place to prevent this in the future, the firm's supervision of representatives and whether it considered if other clients may be impacted.

AFCA remained unconvinced by the information provided by the firm and said the evidence lacked effective preventative controls to ensure transactions occurred only with appropriate client authority, monitoring and supervision arrangements were sufficient to identify similar conduct, and the broader client population had been adequately reviewed to determine whether other consumers may have been affected.

"AFCA did not consider that the firm had demonstrated that the systemic issue was resolved," it said.

"The case highlights that where potentially unauthorised conduct is identified, responding to the individual event may not be sufficient. Effective resolution also requires consideration of whether the control environment could have prevented or detected the conduct and whether a broader group of clients may have been affected."

AFCA added supervision is most effective when it reflects the actual risks arising from the advice and representative activity being undertaken.

Frankfurt-based Rantum specialises in private market solutions for small- and mid-sized companies across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, known as the DACG region. The firm will become part of Janus Henderson's expanding private markets platform, strengthening its presence in an important institutional market.

Janus Henderson chief executive Ali Dibadj said the deal would help the firm respond to growing demand for private market strategies.

"We are delighted to welcome the Rantum team to Janus Henderson," Dibadj said.

"The completion of this acquisition strengthens our private markets capabilities and enhances our ability to meet growing client demand for private credit and private equity solutions in a strategically important market."

Rantum was founded in 2013 and has raised around $2 billion (€1.2bn) across its private market strategies. Its capabilities include private debt and private equity financing for family and entrepreneur-owned businesses across the DACH region.

Rantum co-founder and managing director Dirk Northeis said the combination would bring together the manager's regional expertise with Janus Henderson's international distribution and resources.

"Everyone at Rantum is excited to be part of Janus Henderson," Northeis said.

"We share a strong entrepreneurial culture and commitment to clients, and by combining our local private markets expertise with Janus Henderson's global reach, we believe we are well positioned to create long-term value for investors across Europe."

The acquisition follows Janus Henderson's recent expansion of its private markets platform through acquisitions and partnerships including Privacore, Victory Park Capital and NBK Capital Partners.

The firm said the expanded capabilities, alongside its established fixed income business, would allow it to provide investors with greater access to opportunities across public and private markets.

The transaction was first announced in June, with financial terms not disclosed.

The ASA Equal Living Social Infrastructure Fund is raising $50 million of initial equity, and ASA Real Estate Partners together with Equal Living Group will co-invest up to 10% of the equity in it.

The assets provide 'step down' healthcare accommodation for Australians with life-changing injuries - those who cannot live long term in hospital but equally need care such that they can't live at home.

The initial portfolio will comprise three newly completed assets in metropolitan Melbourne, 100% leased to the Equal Living Group on 20-year triple net leases indexed to annual inflation.

The assets are operated by Equal Living Group and are designed for long term government funding programs including the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

ASA Real Estate Partners managing partner Tim Slattery said: "We really like alternate real asset sectors where the fundamentals of underlying occupier demand and clean cash flow are key value drivers."

The fund is targeting a distribution yield of 7% per annum and an 18% total return across the real estate as well as the equity participation in the Equal Living Group.

ASA said people being cared for include members of community who have suffered strokes, acquired brain injuries, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and major physical trauma including quadriplegia and paraplegia.

Industry estimates indicate a significant shortage of high-quality accommodation with a further 10,000 beds required by 2033.

"Here we see the potential for the asset class which is emerging and not yet supported or priced by institutional capital - we see a distinct parallel to healthcare real estate coming out of the global financial crisis in 2010 which was a very profitable investment. Great assets, profitable tenants and priced without significant competitive tension," Slattery said.

"The structure of the investment gives us ownership of the hard assets as well as upside equity participation of up to 30% in our partner and tenant, an established business with over 150 staff, a proven and profitable operational track record and over 25 years of relevant experience."

ASA said private sector delivery of these assets and services is highly cost effective compared to relevant alternatives. The private sector can build and run this accommodation at up to 70% less than the equivalent nightly cost to government of an acute hospital bed, it added.

"The NDIS, at its core, was designed to provide critical support and essential accommodation for vulnerable members of the community," Slattery said.

"These assets do that in a very cost-effective manner for the government - as evidenced by the fact that only about 1% of the annual NDIS budget is utilised to care for these people who need lifelong support."

The Lumina Equity Fund is managed by Dalton Investments, which is a Los Angeles-based, employee-owned investment manager with approximately $9.5 billion in funds under management as at June 30.

Dalton Investments has seeded the fund with its own capital, demonstrating its commitment to the strategy and alignment with investors, it said.

The SILC Group has been selected as the trustee to provide governance, regulatory oversight, tax reporting and operational support, while fund administration which includes operations, investor onboarding and accounting, is provided by Fenix Funds Administration.

It will invest in a concentrated portfolio of around 20 to 40 international companies that combine traditional value investing with AI-enhanced research capabilities across international markets.

The strategy will utilise AI research tools to expand information gathering, identify potential investment opportunities and improve research efficiency, with Dalton remaining responsible for investment decisions, the firm said.

The fund is available for wholesale investors.

Lumina Equity Fund portfolio manager Craig Mercer said AI is playing an important role in investment research and can strengthen traditional investment disciplines.

"AI is transforming how investment teams access and process information, but successful investing still depends on judgment, experience and disciplined decision-making," he said.

"The Lumina Equity Fund combines Dalton's long-established value investment philosophy with an AI-enhanced research platform that helps us analyse more companies, identify opportunities more efficiently and spend more time evaluating investment quality, portfolio construction and risk."

Meanwhile, The SILC Group managing director Koby Jones highlighted a growing demand from investors for stronger governance and operational infrastructure across innovative investment strategies.

"Dalton Investments has a long track record of global investing, and SILC is pleased to help launch its first Australian fund and support its growth in the local market," Jones said.

"Our role is to provide the governance, oversight and operational framework that allows investment managers to focus on delivering outcomes for investors while maintaining the highest standards of compliance and accountability."

The trustee service provider also helped another US-based investment manager to introduce its global equity fund in August, as well as welcoming its inaugural head of trustee and responsible entity solutions last month.

Underwritten by TAL, North Protect provides advisers with multiple pathways to cover, including limited-underwriting options requiring as few as three yes-or-no risk control questions.

AMP group executive, platforms Edwina Maloney said advisers had been seeking a simpler way to bring clients' financial and insurance arrangements together.

"Advisers told us they wanted a simpler way to bring their clients' super, investments and insurance together. North Protect gives them practical options to do that," Maloney said.

The offering provides three pathways; standard cover, tailored cover and insurance transfers.

Standard cover provides eligible MyNorth and North Super members with death or death and total permanent disablement (TPD) insurance following a limited underwriting process involving health and lifestyle questions. Cover is structured on a life stages basis and adjusts as clients age.

Tailored cover provides a fully underwritten death, TPD and income protection insurance, with cover amounts able to be adjusted to individual circumstances.

The Insurance Transfers option allows eligible clients to transfer existing group cover from another super fund, subject to eligibility and risk control requirements. Transfers are available up to $2 million in death and TPD cover and $20,000 a month income and protection.

Eligible clients can also transfer existing group cover to North Protect with limited underwriting, potentially helping advisers consolidate insurance arrangements without requiring full underwriting.

AMP general manager, product and pricing Gai Ferrington said the offering has been developed in response to adviser demand for greater flexibility.

"We know many advisers are looking for an easier and more practical way to help clients protect what is often their most valuable asset: their ability to earn an income," Ferrington said.

Advisers can quote, submit and track applications and manage cover through AMP's AGI portal.

North Protect also allows eligible members moving from a North or MyNorth Super account into the corresponding pension account to continue existing death cover, subject to policy terms, with cover ending at age 70.

GSFM will distribute the fund to New Zealand wholesale and retail investors.

The strategy will provide long-term exposure to 20 to50 listed equities across global markets, with a focus on identifying structural growth trends underappreciated and mispriced, Munro said.

It aims to achieve a greater return than against the MSCI World Index Total Return Net NZD before fees over a rolling five-year period and will be managed by Munro Partners chief investment officer Nick Griffin and portfolio manager Kieran Moore.

It is the second fund that Munro and GSFM have brought to New Zealand, following the launch of the Munro Global Growth Climate Leaders PIE Fund in April 2025, which was expanded to retail investors in June this year.

Munro, which manages close to $9 billion in assets, acquired GSFM in August to strengthen its distribution capabilities across the Tasman Sea.

Commenting, Munro Partners chief executive Ronald Calvert said the launch reflects the firm's commitment to New Zealand.

"We have seen strong interest in our existing PIE fund in the past 18 months and believe now is the ideal time to expand our offering in the New Zealand market," Calvert said.

"Our investment process focuses on identifying and investing in global companies that have the potential to grow at a faster rate and a more sustainable basis than the overall market.

"We group companies into defined areas of Interest, which represent long term structural growth changes affecting the world. This allows us to identify companies positioned to benefit from strong growth."

Munro defines a structural growth trend as a durable, long term structural change that results in growth investment opportunities, for example from businesses that derive a competitive advantage from big data or high-performance computing including AI.

Meanwhile, Griffin noted despite recent market volatility, there are a number of powerful tailwinds supporting global markets.

"Company earnings have been improving while valuations in some areas have become more attractive. This creates opportunities for investors in global equities who are prepared to look beyond the obvious market leaders and who stay exposed to structural growth opportunities," he said.

"For example, we continue to see significant opportunities in the AI build-out but also in areas such as decarbonisation, healthcare innovation, security and infrastructure. Our focus is on businesses where earnings remain strong and with the potential for further upside."

The funding will be directed to the 400-megawatt (MW)/1600 megawatt-hour (MWh) Teebar Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Queensland and the 470MW Parron Maam Marang Wind Farm in Western Australia.

The investment will be managed by Igneo Infrastructure Partners, as equity funding for both projects will be provided by existing Igneo managed funds and clients - including Cbus and MLC.

The Teebar BESS will provide four hours of energy storage and will store electricity when supply is abundant and dispatch it when demand is higher, helping to support reliability and make more effective use of renewable generation, while the Parron Maam Marang wind farm will supply renewable electricity under a long-term power purchase agreement with Synergy, a WA electricity retailer.

Atmos will retain ownership of Teebar BESS and Parron Maam Marang through construction and operate both projects once complete. They are the next phase of a national portfolio that already includes over 1.5GW of operating and in-construction wind, solar and storage capacity, Atmos said.

Both projects are supported by the government's Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), and together with the 100MW/400MWh Merredin BESS - which reached the same milestone in June 2025 - Atmos has now taken 970MW of CIS-backed capacity through financial close.

Atmos Renewables chief executive Nigel Baker said the financial close demonstrated Atmos' ability to progress major renewable energy and storage projects from development through to construction and ultimately operations.

"The CIS provides important long-term revenue support, but an award is only one step. Projects still need to secure financing, grid access, wider commercial arrangements and a credible delivery pathway," Baker said.

"Teebar BESS and Parron Maam Marang Farm meet market needs for the firming and generation capacity required in Australia as electricity demand grows and ageing generation retires.

"Reaching this point has required sustained collaboration across state and federal governments, lenders, network businesses, commercial partners and delivery partners."

Igneo Infrastructure Partners partner and head of Australia and New Zealand Danny Latham added the almost 1GW of CIS-backed capacity highlights the attractiveness of the opportunity ahead.

"These major milestones demonstrate Atmos' ability to develop, finance and deliver large-scale renewable energy infrastructure that supports Australia's energy transition while generating long-term value for our investors," Latham said.

"Supported by the long-term commitment of Igneo investors including MLC and Cbus, we continue to see significant opportunity to invest in renewable generation and storage capacity."

Last week, the corporate watchdog claimed the products were too risky for retail investors.

The three products - the 6 Month (Fixed and Variable) Account, 12 Month (Fixed and Variable) Account and At Call Account - sit under the Remara Cash Management Fund, a registered managed investment scheme.

ASIC had hit Remara and its trustee Melbourne Securities Corporation (MSC) with the interim design distribution orders (DDO) stop orders for 21 days unless revoked earlier.

Amendments made by Remara addressed ASIC's concerns by removing 'capital preservation' as a suitable investment objective and introducing a new category of 'low capital volatility'.

It also amended the rating of the consumer's risk and return profile from low to a rating of medium and potentially low to medium.

The fund removed generalised access-to-capital categories and replaced them with categories specific to the products, which consider the redemption timeframes under its constitution.

It also reduced the percentage of investor's investable assets considered to be appropriate for investment in the products from 'major component' (up to 75%) and 'core component' (up to 50%) to 'minor' (up to 25%) and 'satellite' (up to 10%).

ASIC recommended investors in the products to review whether they remain suitable for their financial objectives, situation or needs.

ASIC's surveillance of private credit funds includes targeting the distribution of private credit funds to retail clients through direct and advised channels, as well as examining fees, margin structures and conflict-of-interest management in wholesale private credit funds.

Last week, the corporate regulator urged the private credit sector to uplift standards, noting participants should prepare for enforcement action if they fail to do so.

Alison Bodinnar has commenced in the role, bringing more than two decades of insurance and financial services experience across Switzerland and Australia.

Most recently, she was the head of products and proposition at Acenda for close to five years. Before that, she was the head of wealth protection product at AMP, where she was stationed for over five years serving in several senior positions.

Earlier in her career, she facilitated insurance claims at Zurich Insurance Company, AXIS Re Europe, and Allianz Australia.

Notably, she also managed a portfolio of high profile legal liability claims for directors and officers for the Federal Government as a liability claims specialist at Gallagher Bassett Services between 2009 and 2011.

"Throughout my career in group insurance, I've developed a deep passion for improving member outcomes. I'm excited to continue that journey with AIA, working alongside our superannuation partners to make a meaningful difference for their members," Bodinnar said on LinkedIn.

"Thank you to the AIA team for the warm welcome. So proud to be part of the team."

In August, AIA restructured its retail business that saw Paula Bourke appointed as the new chief retail insurance officer. Former chief retail insurance and advice officer Pina Sciarrone and chief retail insurance officer for life and health Stephanie Phillips have since left the organisation as part of the restructure.

The life insurer is also now offering lower premiums for total and permanent disability (TPD) via a new product TPD CORE, which requires additional assessment on mental health conditions and specified subjective conditions such as those associated with a client's experience of pain and fatigue symptoms.

The RBA said private market activity in Australia has supported favourable business credit conditions over recent years and noted while the rapid growth in the domestic private credit market has been from a low base, concerns over credit quality raise more issues for investor protection than financial stability.

"In sum, while cyclical domestic risks continue to be closely monitored, they are not assessed as posing systemic financial stability risks at present," it said.

On the superannuation sector, the RBA said it is important that as the sector grows, its liquidity risk management practices continue to strengthen to maintain resilience.

The central bank also noted operation resilience requires ongoing action.

"Improving operational resilience has become a prominent focus of regulators, banks, FMIs, superannuation funds and other financial institutions. This includes the development of robust contingency and recovery plans and crisis response capabilities. There is, however, a varying level of preparedness for operational disruptions across the financial system," the RBA said.

"In an environment of rapid technological change, increased concentration, rising interconnectedness and heightened geopolitical risk, maintaining and building operational resilience will require ongoing vigilance across the financial system.

The RBA added capital and liquidity resilience must be maintained.

"It is important that lending standards remain sound in the face of continued strong competition in lending so that resilience is not eroded in an environment more prone to shocks," the RBA said.

"The superannuation sector has been an important source of resilience and stability in the broader financial system over the years, but ongoing work to strengthen liquidity risk management practices is warranted as the sector continues to grow in size and as a larger share of superannuation balances become accessible to members."

Operating in more than 40 markets, the firm has a significant presence in the US, UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

"Our landmark combination gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape our industry and to deliver a proposition to clients that hasn't previously existed," Nuveen chief executive William Huffman said.

"Together, we'll create a platform with leading investment performance across every major capital market with the flexibility to tailor solutions to meet clients' specific goals. We'll deliver investment excellence and worldwide breadth, backed by the credibility of decades of on-the-ground presence around the world."

Nuveen said the combined firm will continue to grow and innovate through further investment in capabilities, people and client propositions and with the continued support of TIAA, a patient shareholder that invests alongside clients and has supported the long-term priorities of Nuveen across market cycles.

"Nuveen is essential to our delivery of lifetime income and financial security to millions of people," TIAA chief executive Thasunda Brown Duckett said.

"Completing this acquisition creates one of the largest active global asset managers in the world with the reach, talent and capabilities to compete and win in every major market. This combination accelerates our strategy and strengthens the investment capabilities that power our retirement and annuity products, deepening our ability to deliver on our lifetime income mission for generations to come."

Huffman said over the next 12 to 18 months, Schroders will continue to operate separately within Nuveen, led by Schroders group chief executive Richard Oldfield, who will report to Huffman.

"Today's milestone is an extraordinary moment for our clients and our business," Oldfield said.

"At a time when the world is changing rapidly, we believe active management is more relevant than ever, helping clients navigate uncertainty and achieve the outcomes they need. By bringing together our complementary strengths in active investment, we will offer more to our clients and have more opportunities for growth, underpinned by a shared investment-led culture, long-term perspective and deep heritage."

Nuveen added it intends to establish a unified investment platform with the full breadth of public and private market capabilities, led by Saira Malik who will serve as chief investment officer, also reporting to Huffman.

Johanna Kyrklund will become the combined firm's chief investment officer of public markets and solutions with responsibility for equities, fixed income, multi-asset and solutions, eventually reporting to Malik.

The firm intends to organise its combined $400 billion private markets platform by asset class, reflecting a commitment to broadening the firm's offering to clients.

Nuveen and Schroders intend to maintain their existing investment teams across both asset and wealth management for at least 12 to 18 months post-completion as integration planning takes place.

Nuveen and Schroders will also build on the presence and market positioning of Schroders' wealth management businesses, including Cazenove Capital, which are key strategic elements of the combined firm's strategy.

The acquisition of the newly developed, Coles-anchored centre is QIC's second convenience retrial purchase in less than 12 months, following its acquisition of The Albany in Sydney's Crows Nest in December 2025.

Opened in September 2025 by Frasers Property Australia, Mambourin Marketplace spans 7500 square metres and comprises a full-line Coles supermarket, 25 specialty stores and a medical precinct.

QIC Retail Estate Core Plus Strategies fund manager Charles Occhino said the purchase represented a further step in the group's everyday retail strategy, with capital redeployed following recent industrial divestments.

"We have remained selective on deployment with a clear focus on opportunities where pricing, asset quality and long-term fundamentals align with our disciplined portfolio growth strategy," Occhino said.

The centre is positioned to benefit from residential development across Melbourne's west, with its main trade area forecast to exceed 90,000 residents by 2036. It also forms the first stage of a broader town centre precinct.

Occhino said the centre's supermarket anchored income and growing catchment aligned with QIC's focus on essential retail, particularly as higher interest rates place pressure on discretionary spending.

"As consumers become more deliberate about discretionary spending, demand for everyday essentials remains resilient as we're seeing across our portfolio" he said.

The acquisition builds on QIC's existing convenience retail holdings, which include Pittwater Place in Sydney, Big Top Shopping Centre on the Sunshine Coast, Kippa-Ring Shopping Centre and Nerang Mall in Queensland.

QIC said it would continue to pursue further convenience retail opportunities while maintaining a disciplined approach to pricing, as it seeks to grow its portfolio and capture potential income growth from expanding communities.

The partnership brings together Swyftx's digital asset platform and dedicated SMSF account offering with ESUPERFUND for establishment, administration and compliance services.

Swyftx customers establishing an SMSF can now access ESUPERFUND's services, and once established, eligible customers may choose to open a Swyftx SMSF trading account to invest in digital assets, it said.

Swyftx chief executive Andrea Yuen said the partnership strengthens Swyftx's offering to Australia's SMSF market.

"SMSFs are becoming an increasingly important part of the digital asset landscape in Australia, and we want to make the experience as straightforward as possible for trustees who choose to include crypto within their investment strategy," Yuen said.

"ESUPERFUND has significant experience and scale in the Australian SMSF sector. Bringing together their administration expertise with Swyftx's dedicated SMSF trading accounts and digital asset capabilities creates a strong end-to-end proposition for customers.

"Importantly, this isn't about telling Australians what they should invest in. It's about giving SMSF trustees who have made the decision to consider digital assets access to the infrastructure, service and support they need to do so."

Meanwhile, ESUPERFUND associate director Mark Needham highlighted the administrative efficiencies on offer for trustees.

"ESUPERFUND has always been focused on making the administration of an SMSF as straightforward and efficient as possible while leaving investment decisions with the trustees," Needham said.

"This partnership gives Swyftx customers who have independently decided that an SMSF is appropriate for them access to ESUPERFUND's establishment and administration services.

"With trustee's authorisation, Swyftx transaction data can now be transferred to ESUPERFUND for accounting and compliance purposes. This reduces the need for trustees to provide transaction records manually and supports accurate SMSF accounting and compliance reporting."

The strategy will lend across a range of sectors including equipment leasing, transportation, consumer, real estate and infrastructure.

The fund attracted a globally diversified base of institutional investors, including US public pension plans and sovereign wealth funds.

"As the private asset-backed market grows, its sheer variety across sectors, structures and risk/return makes the market difficult to navigate," Oaktree managing director and portfolio manager Brendan Beer said.

"We see that as opportunity, giving us real freedom to pursue the best relative value. Our approach is simple: survey a very broad market for less-crowded lending opportunities, and subject them to Oaktree's critical eye."

Across the broader asset-backed finance platform, Oaktree has invested more than US$19 billion.

Beer added the partnership with Brookfield has supercharged Oaktree's proprietary sourcing and added differentiated perspectives to investment decisions.

The two firms first partnered in 2019, when Brookfield paid about $6.8 billion for a 62% stake in Oaktree. Last year, Brookfield became the owner of Oaktree after scooping up the remaining 26% stake in the credit fund manager for US$3 billion.

"The Asset-Backed Financial Fund's final close builds on Brookfield's longstanding partnership with Oaktree, which dates back to 2019," Oaktree said.

"Now as an integrated business, the strategy benefits from deeper sourcing and underwriting expertise, harnessing Brookfield's global scale and extensive operating platform."

The fund is complementary to Brookfield's broader asset-based finance platform, which totals more than US$60 billion and provides access to opportunities including specialty finance, residential non-qualified mortgages, aviation lending, music royalties, fund finance and digital infrastructure leases.

Australian shares fell more than 3% during the month, with 10 of the market's 11 sectors declining. US shares lost 0.5%, but UniSuper head of fixed interest David Colosimo said the headline figure obscured deeper weakness, with the equal-weighted US market falling more than 5%.

"If you take that out, the US was just as weak or maybe even weaker than Australia," Colosimo said.

AI infrastructure was a key source of support, with the semiconductor index gaining 10% and Meta rising 27% following the release of new products, including its AI assistant, Muse. However, Colosimo said the technology could also challenge established business models, with Expedia falling 17% and Amazon declining 4% amid concerns about AI- driven disruption.

"I put it down to two things; the surge in oil prices... and the second thing is the increase in bond yields," he said, pointing to rising energy costs and higher borrowing costs as key pressures on markets.

Colosimo said persistent oil supply constraints were adding to inflation risks, warning that "that'd be a real headwind to growth and further entrench these inflationary pressures."

Bond yields have risen across major economies, reflecting higher inflation expectations resilient growth and borrowing to fund AI investment. "You've got higher inflation and resilient growth, it's just been a recipe for rate hikes by central banks," he said.

Australian mining stocks also struggled amid concerns about Chinese demand and global growth, with BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue falling between 5% and 8%.

Looking ahead, Colosimo said US corporate earnings and the upcoming midterm elections would be key market considerations in October, alongside inflation data and central bank decisions.

While further US rate rises remain a possibility, he said the Reserve Bank of Australia may pause to assess the impact of its latest increase, with its next move dependent on incoming inflation figures.

Praemium chief executive Anthony Wamsteker has stepped down from his role, effective immediately.

Last week, the platform brought forward its board leadership transition, with board member Matthew Quinn replacing chair Barry Lewin, who stepped down after almost a decade from the role. Quinn joined the Praemium board on June 1 as a non-executive director and assumed the chair role on September 22.

Praemium chief commercial officer Denis Orrock will take over the role of the acting chief executive, as the board undertakes the recruitment process for a permanent replacement.

Orrock joined Praemium in 2022 and has over 30 years of experience in financial services including as chief executive of GBST Broker Services and head of capital markets.

Quinn said renewal of leadership happens from time to time in every company, and this is no different. He added the new leadership will focus on the same goal with faster pace, better execution, and increased focus on customers.

"Praemium is at an exciting and pivotal point. We are currently transforming our technology platform and over the next year we will progressively roll out the new platform to our clients," Quinn said.

"This will include a suite of new functionality and product enhancements designed to improve client user experience and enhance their productivity.

"Denis and the management team are focused on delivering this project efficiently and cost effectively and building revenue from both existing and new clients via their adoption of the company's new and enhanced products."

The new technology platform is also expected to deliver efficiency and productivity gains for the company with associated reductions in the cost base.

The board thanked Wamsteker for his time as the chief executive. He has a three-month notice period and will assist Orrock as he steps into the role of acting chief executive.

Orrock's total fixed remuneration would be $765,900, same as Wamsteker. Orrock's target short-term incentive opportunity, and existing long-term incentive plans remain unchanged during the period of his acting chief executive appointment.

The platform is sharply focused on targeting the high-net-worth segment and recently said the strategy has worked out to its favour, as total funds under administration (FUA) jumped to $77.9 billion for the year ending 30 June 2026, a 21.1% increase from last year.

Praemium shares jumped 10% in early trade following the leadership change.

Trading in Clime will remain suspended until after the FY26 annual report is released on the ASX.

"While this is disappointing, the board is not aware of any material change to the preliminary financial report published on 31 August 2026," Clime said.

It expects to release the audited reports in the coming days.

Clime said estimated pre-tax profit remains at $1 million, with the board intending to declare a fully franked dividend of 50 cents per share on completion of the audit.

Clime recently said it is selling its separately managed accounts (SMA) products and some managed funds for about $7.7 million to an unnamed party.

"Commercial terms are agreed. These transactions represent further progress in exiting sub-scale retail product structures and aligning the group to its future mandate-led operating model," Clime said.

The group has also finalised the sale of its retail advice arm, Clime Advice, for $6 million, comprising $1 million in equity and vendor finance of $5 million. It retains a 10% interest in the newly combined business.

The Australian Financial Review recently reported Clime Private Wealth was barred from the Netwealth platform two months ago following a review.

Clime Investment Management managing director Michael Baragwanath told Financial Standard the report is incorrect without providing further details.

Clime Private Wealth chief executive Kieran Berry and Clime Investment Management executive director John Abernethy did not respond to requests for comment.

A Netwealth spokesman said: "We will not comment on individual clients, advisers, or fund managers, and will not be drawn into specifics of any particular matter. What we can say is that our governance processes are designed to identify issues early, and our preference is always to work collaboratively with our platform stakeholders toward resolution."

IFM Investors' Private Markets 700 (PM700) survey, which gathered insights from 700 senior investment professionals across pension funds, insurance companies, wealth managers and investment consultants, displayed a heightened sentiment in allocating capital towards private markets, driven by opportunities arising from megatrends like deglobalisation, decarbonisation and digitisation.

"The global race to invest in digital transformation and AI, which was viewed as the third most impactful force in 2025, now ranks second," the report said.

"The imperative to mitigate climate change by decarbonising and make investments associated with the energy transition, and demographic change and population growth are also viewed as key drivers."

Seventy-one percent noted investing in the megatrends is "essential" to achieving their returns objectives. Private markets are seen as an effective way to access these overarching themes.

While a total of 61%, rising to 68% in Asia Pacific, said private markets are better than public markets for building megatrend exposure. Just under half (45%) view private markets as core driver for "structural growth" in opportunities like artificial intelligence and the energy transition.

Speaking to Financial Standard, IFM Investors global head of investment research Jeff Chee said Australian investors are constantly taking megatrends into account, as well as inflation volatility and supply constraints, but are also considering demographics in aging populations, evolution of workforces and societies, and debt and deleveraging.

"Very high levels of public debt do constrain the ability for potential sovereigns to finance the investment that's required for the energy transition, AI CAPEX, etc," he said.

He also reiterated that no asset class is economic shock proof, but private markets tend to be more "naturally resilient" towards economic shocks than conventional public market and macro-sensitive assets.

"But if we think more broadly about the big picture megatrends... a lot of them point towards increasing inflation volatility because of consumption of commodities or hitting supply constraints," he said.

"Inflationary environments, particularly those that are driven by supply shocks, are challenging traditional portfolio construction when equities underperform and bonds fail to diversify equity risk. On the flip side, the supply constraints and inflation volatility mean assets that are scarce and ascent into the economy are becoming increasingly important."

The survey also found investors are finding infrastructure equity to be the most "appealing" of all private market asset classes, narrowly ahead of private equity, with 63% stating they want to add to their infrastructure equity allocations over the next three to five years.

In response, Chee noted investors are generally attracted to the sector from developments like data centres and redevelopments of aging infrastructure.

"Infrastructure was definitely the asset class that, of the market asset classes, that was the one where there was the most investor interest in terms of allocation," Chee said.

"The energy transition is one area where significant investments going to be required; we can already see there's a lot of activity going around potential data centres, [but] this is not saying that IFM has a view that these are necessarily attractive in isolation or in absolute terms.

"It is really important to be careful about asset selection and we're seeing some social backlash on these assets."

He also emphasised the need to upgrade general infrastructure obsolescent cyclical investments, highlighting investing in open-ended infrastructure will take charge.

"Open-ended infrastructure investing is the ability to invest capital by improving existing platforms, reinvesting in existing assets and generating value via active management rather than adding new assets," he said.

"It is also about improving what's there and actively manage the assets that we own will be as important as finding the next attractive deal."

These funds join Australian Retirement Trust - Super Savings, Aware Super, Brighter Super, Hostplus and UniSuper in the list of accredited funds.

The retirement-readiness framework offers a consumer-focussed assessment against 20 key criteria, evaluating the range of services and support super funds offer to pre-retirees and retirees. Funds must satisfy at least 14 out of the 20 criteria.

"There were new criteria introduced this year assessing cyber-safety, as well as a complaints-handling metric and more detailed requirements around access to financial advice and education. We saw a marked improvement in the way super funds were managing these important aspects of their operations," Chant West general manager Ian Fryer said.

"There has been a lot of development work by retail super funds across advice provision (digital & phone), engagement, and retirement income tools and calculators, leading to two of the three new funds being retail funds.

"Several more funds introduced a retirement bonus this year, but there was less innovation in terms of lifetime products. We're hoping to see more work in this space by next year."

Last year, ASIC slammed super trustees for poor retirement communications practices, finding that many funds are missing opportunities to engage with members throughout retirement and provide more meaningful support.

ASIC's review, Report 818 From superficial to super engaged: Better practices for trustee retirement communications, found some trustees offer one-size-fits-all retirement communications aimed primarily at pre-retirees.

Epic Retirement Institute founder Bec Wilson said the first year of the tick put a visible benchmark in front of funds and consumers.

"Funds that didn't meet the standard wanted to understand where they fell short and what they needed to do differently. Some have brought forward retirement initiatives, improved existing services or put greater focus on areas that weren't measuring up," Wilson said.

"Impressively, some of the funds that received the tick have continued to build on what they offer.

"That is exactly what we hoped would happen. The tick was never designed simply to identify the funds meeting the standard. It was designed to help lift the standard across the industry."

AMP Group executive of superannuation and investments Melinda Howes said the recognition reflects AMP's ongoing focus on helping Australians navigate the transition into retirement with greater confidence.

"Australians spend decades building their super, but retirement is when they need their fund to really step up. That means helping members turn their savings into the highest possible income, understand their options and get the guidance and support they need," Howes said.

"Retirement is a major focus at AMP - from investing differently for members in retirement and providing income for life through AMP Super Lifetime, to expanding access to simple digital and phone-based advice."

Howes added receiving the Epic Retirement Tick is further recognition of AMP's work, but the job isn't finished.

"With millions of Australians approaching retirement, we're continuing to lift the support we provide to help more members feel confident about the years ahead," she said.

Fryer said super funds' response to the introduction of the tick has been very positive and created genuine dialogue about how the funds can lift their standards for the benefit of members heading towards and already in retirement

"Ultimately, we want as many Australians as possible to have access to the advice, products, tools and service that help them maximise their financial security in retirement. Super funds are working towards the same outcome, and the tick supports their journey towards achieving that goal," Fryer said.

The industry reported net inflows of $12.14 billion during the period.

"This is a steady and positive result for the managed accounts sector, during a six-month period of modest overall capital growth in Australian and global markets, and a degree of market uncertainty and geopolitical factors," IMAP chair Toby Potter said.

Managed accounts grew by $60.2 billion in 2025 to reach close to $300 billion at the end of December 2025.

Adviser adoption is also becoming mainstream, with the latest Investment Trends research showing 61% of advisers in Australia are already using managed accounts, and another 13% are considering doing so.

Separately managed accounts accounted for 65% of the market share of the total FUM, whereas managed discretionary accounts (MDAs) remained stable at 20.3%.

The IMAP FUM census collected data from 40 organisations, which includes the platforms who report the market's SMA FUM on behalf of their SMA provider clients.

"This census report is an integral part of IMAP's role as a voice of the managed accounts industry, able to represent and support advisers, their clients, investment managers and platforms," Potter said.

"We thank the participants for their efforts and cooperation to enable this reporting to be provided by the managed account sector for public awareness."

Clare Butler has joined as general manager, people, culture, and capability while and Amara Haqqani has been appointed general manager proposition, planning and performance. Aileen Koh has also moved into the role of general manager compliance.

The $65 billion fund will further expand its leadership team appointing Adam Matheson as general manager governance and company secretary in early October, and Craig Roodt as senior manager, investment risk and Jane Macnamara as general manager corporate affairs and advocacy in November.

"Each brings a wealth of experience, leadership and expertise that will help CareSuper continue delivering strong outcomes for our members, employers and stakeholders," a CareSuper spokesperson said.

The appointment follows a broader expansion of the fund's investment capabilities this year, including the appointment of Jessica Melville as general manager portfolio management and Andrew Thomas as general manager portfolio design in August.

Melville joined CareSuper from AustralianSuper, where she spent most of five years as head of mid risk portfolio strategy and research. She is responsible for driving CareSuper's investment program across asset classes.

CareSuper also reported solid investment performance over the 2025-26 financial year, with its Balanced option returning 7.73% in the year to 30 June 2026 and its Retirement Income Balanced option returning 8.25%.

The fund said all pre-mixed options exceeded their CPI + percentage point investment objectives over the 10 years to 30 June 2026.

The latest leadership appointments come as CareSuper continues to build its organisational and investment capabilities following the significant expansion of its investment team.

"We are excited to have them on board and look forward to the valuable contributions they will make to our fund," the CareSuper spokesperson said.

The annual member administration fee will fall 23% from $78 to $60, reducing the fixed cost from $1.50 to $1.15 a week for eligible members.

Investment fees and costs will also fall across MLC Super's MySuper and Simple Choice options, with reductions of up to 0.07 percentage points a year.

MLC Super's flagship MySuper Growth portfolio, its largest option by funds under management, will see its investment fee fall from 0.69% to 0.67%, a year. The MLC High Growth option will also fall, from 0.85% to 0.83%.

Members invested in some MLC Fixed Interest and Property options will also see lower buy-sell spreads, with Fixed Interest spreads falling to 0.10% for both purchases and sales from 0.15% and 0.20% respectively.

Property spreads will fall from 0.30% for both purchases and sales to 0.20%.

MLC super chief executive Dave Woodall said the changes were intended to leave more members' money invested for retirement.

"We've reduced the headline fee, brought down a range of investment costs and made it cheaper for members to transact," Woodall said.

"Every dollar a member doesn't pay in fees is a dollar that stays in their account, compounding over their working life, to help grow their superannuation balance and give them confidence in retirement."

MLC super said most members would save $18 a year in administration fees, while a member with a $250,000 accumulation balance invested in MLC MySuper would save an average of $68 a year.

The changes will also simplify how members and employers make contributions, with members moving to direct debit and PayID, while employers will use Superstream.

"Confidence in super is built on people understanding what they are paying, what they are invested in and what it means for them," Woodall said.

"Collectively, these changes improve value for members while reinforcing our commitment to maintaining a competitive, efficient and contemporary product suite."

The investment will support Copia's plans to expand distribution, improve scalability and strengthen support for its existing affiliate fund managers, while allowing the group to explore partnerships with additional specialist managers.

Copia, which was founded in 2000, had $9 billion in funds under distribution across five affiliates and 13 strategies as of 31 August 2026.

Its investment partners include Artisan Partners, Chester Asset Management, HSBC Asset Management, Mutual Limited and OC Funds Management, with strategies spanning Australian and global equities, cash and fixed income and global listed infrastructure.

Copia will continue to operate autonomously, with its executive team retaining majority ownership and responsibility for day-to-day operations. Its affiliate managers will also retain control over their investment approaches.

Copia chief executive Sam Baillieu said Scarcity's industry experience and relationships would support the groups growth ambitions.

"We wanted a strategic investor who understood our model and could help us take it further," Baillieu said.

"Scarcity brings deep industry experience and the relationships that will help us pursue new opportunities in Australia and internationally."

Scarcity Partners managing partner Adrian Whittingham said Copia had established a scalable platform through its relationship with assets managers, advisers and platforms.

"Copia occupies an important position within the Australian investment management landscape having truly built a scalable growth platform," Whittingham said.

The transaction will also see Scarcity founding partner Matthew Webb join the Copia Holding Company board as a non-executive director, while Peter Polson steps down.

Webb brings more than 25 years' asset management experience, including 15 years at Magellan Asset Management, where he helped support its international expansion.

Bruce Loveday will remain as chair.

Rest chief strategy and corporate affairs officer Tyrone O'Neill has finished up at Rest after more than seven years. He joined the super fund in 2019 as group executive of member engagement before being promoted to his latest role in March 2023.

In response, Rest told Financial Standard it has brought together the role of finance and investment operations, and most strategy and corporate affairs functions together under the new chief commercial officer role. The inaugural appointment was announced in July.

Rest chief executive Vicki Doyle thanked O'Neill for his contributions.

"We are deeply grateful to Tyrone for his significant contributions to Rest and to our members," she said.

"Over seven years at Rest, Tyrone has made a substantial contribution across member engagement and strategy and corporate affairs, where his thoughtful leadership and strategic council has been highly impactful."

Sharing his departure on LinkedIn, O'Neill said he'd spent an incredible period at the super fund, which had been a highlight of his career.

"To begin with I'd like to express my enormous thanks to chief executive Vicki Doyle, who brought me into Rest. Vicki is an exceptional leader and chief executive, with a rare balance of member-centricity, performance focus, and a genuine, humanistic style," O'Neill said.

"I'd like to thank the members of Rest's executive team and board over my tenure, from whom I have learnt a great deal. I'd also like to express my warm thanks to the amazing people at Rest I have had the opportunity to work with, both those within teams I've led as well as others across the organisation. Rest has a special culture and a wonderful team.

"I am delighted to have been able to apply the skills I developed through my earlier career in such a purpose-driven organisation."

Simultaneously, O'Neill stepped away from his capacity as non-executive director at the Investor Group on Climate Change. He noted he will be taking some time off in the coming months and intends to return to the workforce in the first half of next year.

The news comes after Scott Tully, former general manager, product, bowed out of the organisation after nearly four years last month.

In August, former chief financial officer John O'Sullivan left the fund to take on the role of head of financial and tax and deputy chief financial officer role at HESTA, while Sarah O'Brien, the former head of regulatory, joined ASFA as chief practice officer.

Financial Standard understands O'Neill's departure is part of a broader executive team restructuring currently underway and there may be further departures in the coming months.

Len Chersky has left the firm this week. He joined Brookfield in January 2014 after a brief stint at Lendlease as executive director of resources infrastructure.

He began his career as a quantitative analyst at Zurich Financial Services Australia and served in senior positions at Moodys Corporation, Alinta Energy, and Babcock & Brown previously.

Brookfield declined to comment on his departure but noted clients and shareholders were informed Chersky would be leaving the company in July 2025.

Chersky's regional leadership role, overseeing Australia and east Asia, was taken over by Aditya Joshi, who was appointed head of Asia Pacific and Middle East private equity.

Additionally, Shiv Gupta was appointed head of Australia private equity in March 2026.

During the period, Chersky assisted with the transition of the role as well as the strategic review of La Trobe Financial, which resulted in a partial sale to Axight in April 2026 for $3 billion.

"It's been almost exactly 13 years since I met my partners, as the first dedicated private equity hire in APAC. It's been quite a journey," Chersky said in a post on LinkedIn.

"Looking back, what stands out isn't any single deal. It's the people. I've been lucky to work alongside colleagues, management teams and co-investors who were as generous with their time as they were sharp in their thinking. Together we backed great businesses, worked through some tough situations, and celebrated plenty of wins.

"To my Brookfield colleagues, our portfolio company leaders, and the investors and advisers who placed their trust in us: thank you! I've learned more from you than I could ever repay. I am fortunate to now call many of you my friends.

"I leave proud of what we built together and excited for what comes next. I'll be cheering the team on from close by."

The industry has committed to better claims processes, greater clarity for customers about mental ill-health and cover, improved access to information and assistance for First Nations peoples, and stronger independent oversight through upcoming changes to the Life Code.

The Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) commissioned the independent review to test the Life Code's commitments to customers.

"Australia's life insurers support a strong, clear, and accountable Life Code that protects people when they need it most," said CALI chief executive Christine Cupitt.

"We initiated this independent review because trusted industries listen, test their commitments, and improve."

Led by Peter Kell, the review made 85 recommendations. CALI said the life insurance industry supports the majority of the recommendations, with further work and consultation on more complex recommendations to wrap up in the first half of 2027.

Cupitt told Financial Standard the reason for not immediately implementing some of the changes is to allow time for the industry to "get it right".

"The test of the Life Code is the benefits that it provides for our customers. So, it's important that we take time on the more complex measures to get them right," Cupitt said.

"There are four priority workstreams that we included in our response. The first covers some of the mental health recommendations, and again, these are important to get right. The extra process that we'll have will take into account more customer perspectives. It's also a recommendation of the reviewer himself that we conduct a further process around some of his recommendations.

"So that'll be a very important piece of work, and we'll do that in consultation with our members, with mental health stakeholders, and with other stakeholders."

Cupitt said there was also more work to be done around claims handling recommendations, so another priority workstream has been established around those recommendations.

"There are a number of them, they are complex, and many of them overlap and overlap with our legal obligations. So, we really want to take the time to work methodically through those and make sure that they are ultimately going to deliver a more practical experience for customers who are working their way through a claim," she said.

Cupitt said the Life Code must keep pace with changing community needs and expectations.

"We will implement changes to deliver meaningful improvements for the life insurance customers we serve every day and to strengthen the Life Code overall."

Some of the changes include improving how claims processes work in practice; offering tailored support earlier to customers experiencing financial difficulties; access to a real person with the right knowledge to help during a claim; making it easier for First Nations peoples to find information and support; stronger privacy and safety protections for people experiencing family and domestic violence; clearer, more useful information about what customers are covered for, how much life insurance costs, and how discounts may affect future costs; and greater accountability, including broadening the powers of the Life Code Compliance Committee

"Throughout this process, it is essential customers remain at the centre of all our discussions, particularly those with lived experience," Cupitt said.

"As we continue to work on final drafting of the updated Life Code, we will be focused on bringing consumer voices, lived experience, specialist expertise, regulators, and our industry together.

"A better Life Code does not mean a longer or more complex Life Code. The real test is the difference it makes for customers."

Current chief member officer Michelle Boucher is stepping into the top job following an "extensive selection process".

REI Super chair Geoff Peck said the board is confident in Boucher's leadership, deep industry expertise, and commitment to delivering strong outcomes for members.

"Michelle is an exceptional leader with a proven track record in the superannuation industry and a strong commitment to members," Peck said.

"She brings more than two decades of executive and strategic experience spanning superannuation operations, governance, regulation, investments and member services. Her leadership, experience and clear focus on members make her the ideal person to lead REI Super into its next chapter of growth and development."

Peck said REI Super was well positioned to continue building on its strong foundations as the specialist super fund for Australia's real estate industry.

"REI Super has a proud history of serving the real estate profession, and Michelle's appointment ensures the fund is well placed to continue supporting members at every stage of their financial journey while pursuing opportunities for future growth," he added.

Boucher brings over 20 years' experience. Before joining the super fund, she held senior executive roles including deputy chief executive at First Super and several executive positions at Cbus and ESSSuper.

Boucher said she was honoured to be appointed chief executive.

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead REI Super and work alongside our talented team to continue delivering for members and employers across the real estate industry," she said.

"REI Super has a strong member-first culture, a clear purpose, and a unique position within the industry. I look forward to building on the fund's strengths, supporting our members to achieve better retirement outcomes, and positioning the fund for continued success in a rapidly evolving superannuation landscape."

Media reports have named the MCP Wholesale Investments Trust and the MCP Real Estate Debt Fund among those frozen.

The responsible entity, The Trust Company (RE Services), part of Perpetual, said the suspension was due to the same matters it disclosed two days ago, when it flagged the audited accounts would differ from the preliminary figures released in August.

All the three funds were also suspended from trading on Monday.

Those adjustments cut the net tangible asset (NTA) backing of the three listed funds: by 2% for the Metrics Master Income Trust (MXT), 10% for the Metrics Income Opportunities Trust (MOT) and 12% for the Metrics Real Estate Multi-Strategy Fund (MRE).The revisions have wiped an estimated $169 million from the combined value of the three funds.

The responsible entity said the changes stemmed from adjustments recognised in the unlisted wholesale funds. The listed funds are feeder funds whose values are determined by the net asset value of those underlying funds.

The audited accounts, due today, have also been delayed after auditor KPMG said it could not provide its audit opinion by the September 30 deadline. All the three ASX-listed funds will remain suspended from trading until they are lodged.

ASIC recently urged the private credit sector to uplift standards, noting participants should prepare for enforcement action if they fail to do so.

ASIC commissioner Simone Constant said the regulator is now "beyond warnings" and pushed players to assess themselves against its 10 best practice principles.

"Some of these investors - through structuring, hidden leverage or complex liquidity management practices - may find themselves exposed in ways they did not understand or could not have anticipated," Constant had said.

"In fact, some private credit experts we have worked with over the past 18 months agree that for some funds, even the most sophisticated investors could not really be sure what they were exposed to and how it would respond to a test.

"This is why we have repeatedly called for effective disclosure and consistency of terms."

Investment services provider Ord Minnett said whilst the news of a material difference in audited accounts was "disappointing", it emphasised the quantum of the differences for the income statement is not yet known.

After the three listed funds were put on trading halt, Pinnacle Investment Management swiftly informed the market that it has a 35% equity interest in Metrics Credit, the holding company of Metrics, and it accounted for close to 7% of the company's profits in the last financial year.

Even before the audit adjustments, investors had been pricing in more risk for the listed funds. MRE was trading at a 27.2% discount to net asset value (NAV) and MOT at 23.3% as of July 31, according to Morningstar.

Property developer Bathla Group went into voluntary administration in late August, raising fears that investors will pull back from private credit funds exposed to the property sector.

In response, MA Financial introduced a temporary monthly redemption limit for the MA Secured Loan Series as a proactive measure in response to the potential for increased redemption activity.

Late August, Centuria Bass temporarily paused redemptions and applications to two of its private credit funds, the Centuria Bass Credit Fund and the Bass Property Credit Fund, over increased redemption requests driven by concerns around Bathla Group. It anticipates that the freeze on redemptions will remain in place for between two to six months.