OUTSOURCED CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER (OCIO)

Russell Investments Australian Implemented Consulting

Investing is challenging, there are a lot of things to get right and there's a lot on the line. I think the first thing to realise is that every single client is unique and so a cookie cutter approach just won't work. Spending the time to get to know the people, the organisation, you know what they stand for is important in terms of being able to deliver a successful outcome.

The challenges are significant we're talking about caring about the retirement savings of thousands of individuals. Not-for-profit organisations have an extremely challenging task. In effect, they have in the main been donated or bequeathed money, so they really feel this need to honor that trust that's been placed in them and use that money effectively and get it to further the mission that it's been put aside for. We really want to make sure that when we're providing an investment strategy, it is as efficient as possible to help them meet those goals.

Advisers have had a pretty rough time over the last five to ten years, in that their cost to serve has gone up, the compliance burden has increased and the complexity of people's lives and arrangements that they choose to live in has changed. It’s really about helping with that difficult fee conversation that you have with within clients. We can tailor a solution that meets that specific fee point that you're looking for but without sacrificing all of the deep manager research, the active management, the risk management and all those other due diligence areas that you need help with.

We offer a more tailored personalised service for our members, than a lot of other superannuation funds. In helping individuals to set a goal that is all about them, we're talking to our members as individuals and building solutions for them as individuals, and the solution for you as an individual has got to be better than the mass solution that's an average of the right answer for everyone.

 There's really no substitute for local knowledge when it comes to manager research. Having people on the ground who are there living their lives with other fund managers is a real benefit. They get to understand how these people manage money day to day, they get to understand the local nuances in that economy and they also get to identify new opportunities that may emerge with emerging managers.

For purpose organisations, I would actually say are very well-run organisations, so they have some very, in my experience senior advisers helping them through that and we're one of those. We provide them with strategic investment advice, governance advice and really help them through that day-to-day management of their charity, so they can actually spend their time focusing on their true mission.

The difference with Russell investments, is we're clever people but we take the time to really get to understand our clients, understand their circumstances, understand as they're changing and that I think makes us able to give them better advice and invest and produce better outcomes for them.