Disclosure of proxy voting information by Australian managed investment schemes

The US Securities and Exchange Comission requires registered management investment companies to disclose how they vote proxies relating to portfolio securities they hold. The primary purpose of this rule is to enable fund investors to monitor the role of institutional shareholders in the corporate governance practices of public companies. In Australia, despite reform proposals, there are no regulations requiring institutional investors to report proxy voting procedures and practises. There is little evidence of voluntary disclosure of proxy voting by Australian managed investment schemes in equities, indicating that there are costs involved in such disclosure.

Disclosure of proxy voting information by Australian managed investment schemes

The US Securities and Exchange Commission requires registered management investment companies to disclose how they vote proxies relating to portfolio securities they hold. The primary purpose of this rule is to enable fund investors to monitor the role of institutional shareholders in the corporate governance practices of public companies. In Australia, despite reform proposals, there are no regulations requiring institutional investors to report proxy voting procedures and practices. There is little evidence of voluntary disclosure of proxy voting by Australian managed investment schemes in equities, indicating that there are costs involved in such disclosure.

Socially responsible investment in market downturns : implications for the fiduciary responsibilities of investment fund trustees

This paper investigates whether Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) is more or less sensitive to market downturns than conventional investment, and examines the legal implications for fund managers and trustees. Using a market model methodology, we find that over the past 15 years, the beta risk of SRI, both in Australia and internationally, increased more than that of conventional investment during economic downturns. This implies that companies acting as fund trustees, managed investment schemes and traditional institutional fund managers risk breaching their fiduciary or statutory duties if they go long - or remain long - in SRI funds during market downturns, unless perhaps relevant legislation is reformed. If reform is viewed as desirable, possible reforms could include explicitly overriding the common law to allow all traditional funds to invest in SRI; granting immunity to directors of trustee companies from potential personal liability under sections 197 or 588G et seq of the Corporations Act; allowing companies acting as trustees, managed investment schemes and traditional institutional fund managers and trustees to invest in SRI without triggering a substantial capital gains tax liability through trust resettlement; tax concessions for SRI (eg. introducing a 150% tax deduction or investment allowance for SRI); and allowing SRI sub-funds to obtain “deductible gift recipient” status or the equivalent from relevant taxation authorities. The research is important and original insofar as the assessment of risk in SRIs during market downturns is an area which has hitherto not been subjected to rigorous empirical investigation, despite its serious legal implications.

Forgotten outcomes for rural areas in central policy-making : the case of blue gums in Australia

The expansion of private forestry and the partnership between government and private sector timber growers and processors highlights the issues associated with a functionally based rather than a place based approaches to changing patterns of land use in rural areas. Rural development through blue gum forestry was promoted as a means of revitalising rural communities, providing both economic and social gains to regional areas. The purpose of this study is to examine the economic consequences of policies designed to promote plantation forestry at a local level. It concludes that while plantation forestry may bring benefits to the national economy, these benefits may not be apparent at a local level especially if the industry operates in competition with a viable alternative.

Use and usefulnss of PDSs in the financial planning context

Following considerable criticism of the complexity and lack of readability of product disclosure statements (PDSs), regulatory changes were introduced requiring shorter PDSs for certain investment products. This paper reports the findings of an online survey of financial planners regarding use of managed investment scheme (MIS) PDSs with clients, the perceived usefulness of PDSs as an information source, and their views on shorter PDSs. Our findings highlight major concerns about the usefulness of the PDS and disclosure reforms.

Valuation and reporting of native fauna in monetary terms: compatibility between a market-Based system and natural resources?

A change in community values and priorities has introduced ethical,
environmental and social issues into the way in which business conducts
its activities. There are an increasing number of managed investment funds focusing on socially responsible investment (SRI) by concentrating on firms that operate according to predetermined criteria for environmental, social and ethical issues. For investors in these funds environmental stewardship issues are integrated with concern over financial resources and performance. In this paper the accounting and reporting by business activities concerned with conservation of wildlife are examined. The world of accounting has functioned for many years with relatively few accounting standards devoted to specialised industry needs. In 1998 the Australian Accounting Standards Board and in 2001 the International Accounting Standards Board issued standards devoted to agriculture. Both standards deal with the reporting of managed biological assets and require application of essentially the same approaches despite the Australian standard requiring net market value while the International standard requires fair value. In this paper we analyse how one conservation firm Earth Sanctuaries Ltd. (ESL) has applied AASB 1037 and then we explore the implications for conservation firms operating in geographical locations outside Australia. It is suggested that AASB 1037 and indeed lAS 41 may not provide value appropriate information for investor decisions relating to accounting profits for such firms. Our examination shows that it is appropriate to reconsider accounting guidelines provided by these standards in order to link the information relating to economic and environmental performance. Transparency may be improved by a move closer to Elkington 's (1997) triple bottom line reporting. We therefore contend that the issues arising from the use ofAASB 1037 and lAS 41 need to be widely considered by all standard setters, particularly given the increasing attention to SRI.

Umstrukturierung von kollektiven Kapitalanlagen

The issuance of the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (CISA) in the year 2007 and the revision thereof in 2013 expanded the possibilities for restructuring of collective investment schemes and simplified the procedures. For instance, in article 95 the CISA contains a provision that deals in a non-conclusive way with the restructuring of open-ended collective investment schemes. As a novelty regulation, this provision allows for mergers not only of contractual funds but also of investment companies with variable capital (SICAV). Additionally, the transformation of an open-ended collective investment into another CISA legal form was also included into the catalogue of possible restructuring processes. Further, a SICAV still maintains the possibility for asset transfer according to article 69 ff. of the Federal Act on Merger, Demerger, Transformation and Transfer of Assets (MerA). However, not all open questions have been clarified. As long as the CISA does not contain restructuring provisions, as is the case with closed-ended collective investment schemes, generally the MerA and/or the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) apply. The interplay of diverse, partly overlapping legislative bases leads to the emergence of unwanted gaps. Moreover, the partial revision of the CISA was not completely implemented at the ordinance level. Among others, the following issues have not been conclusively or clearly regulated: the permitted combinations of mergers, the merger procedure of the SICAV, the permitted restructurings, the transformation procedure as well as the application scope of the asset transfer for collective investment schemes according to the relevant merger regulations. Although these questions will be clarified in the following article through a systematic and teleological analysis of the relevant regulations, it is to be hoped that the gaps will be closed within the next CISA revision in order to guarantee comprehensive legal certainty.

Patrimonio y producción en los entornos rurales de Buenos Aires. San José de Flores, 1800-1875

En el presente artículo reconstruimos a partir de la información proporcionada por testamentos e inventarios post mortem las características productivas de los establecimientos frutihortícolas y cerealeros del partido de San José de Flores. Abordamos, además, el estudio de los esquemas de inversión de los propietarios y/o arrendatarios de estas unidades esbozando su perfil socioeconómico y político, deteniéndonos especialmente en aquellos que han accedido a la propiedad legal de los terrenos.

Patrimonio y producción en los entornos rurales de Buenos Aires. San José de Flores, 1800-1875

En el presente artículo reconstruimos a partir de la información proporcionada por testamentos e inventarios post mortem las características productivas de los establecimientos frutihortícolas y cerealeros del partido de San José de Flores. Abordamos, además, el estudio de los esquemas de inversión de los propietarios y/o arrendatarios de estas unidades esbozando su perfil socioeconómico y político, deteniéndonos especialmente en aquellos que han accedido a la propiedad legal de los terrenos.

Patrimonio y producción en los entornos rurales de Buenos Aires. San José de Flores, 1800-1875

En el presente artículo reconstruimos a partir de la información proporcionada por testamentos e inventarios post mortem las características productivas de los establecimientos frutihortícolas y cerealeros del partido de San José de Flores. Abordamos, además, el estudio de los esquemas de inversión de los propietarios y/o arrendatarios de estas unidades esbozando su perfil socioeconómico y político, deteniéndonos especialmente en aquellos que han accedido a la propiedad legal de los terrenos.

Fashions and fads in finance: contingent emulation and the political economy of sovereign wealth fund creation. IHS Political Science Series No. 131, July 2012

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), government-owned or managed investment vehicles, have proliferated at a remarkable rate over the past decade, even as political controversy has surrounded them. Why? The extant literature depicts the process of SWF creation as driven by functional imperatives associated with “excess” revenue and reserves accumulated from commodity booms and large current account surpluses. I argue that SWF creation also reflects in large part a process of contingent emulation in which first this policy has been constructed as appropriate for countries with given characteristics, and then when countries took on these characteristics, they followed their peers. Put simply, fashions and fads in finance matter for policy diffusion. I assess this argument using a new dataset on SWF creation that covers nearly 80 countries from 1984 to 2007. The results suggest peer-based contingent emulation has been a crucial factor shaping the decision of many countries to create a SWF, especially among fuel exporters. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, 2 – 5 September 2010. The author would like to thank Eric Neumayer for his many suggestions and comments on previous versions of the manuscript. The author would also like to thank Zachary Elkins for sharing data. Finally, the author would like to acknowledge the research assistance of Natali Bulamacioglu and Christopher Gandrud.

An evaluation of the viability of photovoltaics in residential schemes managed by UK registered social landlords

Global demands on fossil fuels require the investigation of renewable and viable alternative energy supplies. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that current consumption of fossil fuels is untenable as atmospheric emissions of gases, in particular carbon dioxide (CO²), is having a significant and worsening effect on global climate change (IPCC 1992).

25% of UK CO² emissions are generated in the housing sector (UKCCP 2000). As major providers of UK social housing, Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), indirectly make a significant contribution to UK CO² emissions. In delivering UK Government policies, RSLs are required to meet national social and economic targets, as well as environmental targets. Clearly, social, environmental and economic issues combine in the arena of energy efficiency and social housing.

Potentially, the use of photovoltaics (PV) in social housing could assist the UK government in meeting targets in terms of affordable housing, providing "free" electricity to low income tenants, and with minimal environmental impact in urban areas. However, uptake of PV amongst RSLs in the UK has been minimal to date. This paper explores the factors that act as barriers to energy efficiency in this market.

The implementation of performance based planning in Queensland under the integrated planning act 1997 : an evaluation of perceptions and planning schemes

Performance based planning is a form of planning regulation that is not well understood and the theoretical advantages of this type of planning are rarely achieved in practice. Normatively, this type of regulation relies on performance standards that are quantifiable and technically based which are designed to manage the effects of development, where performance standards provide certainty in respect of the level of performance and the means of achievement is flexible. Few empirical studies have attempted to examine how performance based planning has been conceptualised and implemented in practice. Existing literature is predominately anecdotal and consultant based (Baker et al. 2006) and has not sought to quantitatively examine how land use has been managed or determine how context influences implementation. The Integrated Planning Act 1997 (IPA) operated as Queensland’s principal planning legislation between March 1998 and December 2009. The IPA prevented Local Governments from prohibiting development or use and the term zone was absent from the legislation. While the IPA did not use the term performance based planning, the system is widely considered to be performance based in practice (e.g. Baker et al. 2006; Steele 2009a, 2009b). However, the degree to which the IPA and the planning system in Queensland is performance based is debated (e.g. Yearbury 1998; England 2004). Four research questions guided the research framework using Queensland as the case study. The questions sought to: determine if there is a common understanding of performance based planning; identify how performance based planning was expressed under the IPA; understand how performance based planning was implemented in plans; and explore the experiences of participants in the planning system. The research developed a performance adoption spectrum. The spectrum describes how performance based planning is implemented, ranging between pure and hybrid interpretations. An ex-post evaluation of seventeen IPA plans sought to determine plan performativity within the conceptual spectrum. Land use was examined from the procedural dimension of performance (Assessment Tables) and the substantive dimension of performance (Codes). A documentary analysis and forty one interviews supplemented the research. The analytical framework considered how context influenced performance based planning, including whether: the location of the local government affected land use management techniques; temporal variation in implementation exists; plan-making guidelines affected implementation; different perceptions of the concept exist; this type of planning applies to a range of spatial scales. Outcomes were viewed as the medium for determining the acceptability of development in Queensland, a significant departure from pure approaches found in the United States. Interviews highlighted the absence of plan-making direction in the IPA, which contributed to the confusion about the intended direction of the planning system and the myth that the IPA would guarantee a performance based system. A hybridised form of performance based planning evolved in Queensland which was dependent on prescriptive land use zones and specification of land use type, with some local governments going to extreme lengths to discourage certain activities in a predetermined manner. Context had varying degrees of influence on plan-making methods. Decision-making was found to be inconsistent and the system created a range of unforeseen consequences including difficulties associated with land valuation, increased development speculation, and the role of planners in court was found to be less critical than in the previous planning system.