Market report – Investment Management and Project Delivery. June 2022

This report is aimed at providing a high-level snapshot of the recent market activity across project delivery in the Investment Management space across Australia.

Current project trends – what are we seeing

• New projects are being initiated due to recent mergers/acquisitions. A list is provided below of the recent announcements.

• There has been continued increased focus on private markets projects as more time and money flows into this space. Though a decent proportion of this money is going offshore, some offshore teams are being mobilised to manage these.

• Several super funds are currently working towards a new target operating model for their investment businesses. Some large transformation projects have been set up/or being established.

• Several organisations have been embarking on large investment data projects or are about to initiate new projects in this area.

Employment market trends

• The flow of jobs has decreased this quarter. Whilst the market is still solid, we are not seeing the same level of roles available on the market. That said we were coming off a period of an extraordinary level of activity.

• Despite the above, it is still challenging to identify the right talent in the market. The candidate shortage is still evident.

• Rates and salaries are hovering at the same levels as last quarter.

M&A Activity (recent announcements)

• Australian Super & Club Plus

• HESTA & Mercy Super

• Australian Super & LUCRF

• UniSuper & Australian Catholic Super

• Collimate & Dexus

• CBUS & Media Super

• Hostplus & Statewide

• Challenger & Simcorp

• Mercer & BT Super

Watch this space - questions moving forward

• With high interest rates and instability in the stock market, will this have an impact on the performance of Investment Management companies and their investment into projects? We are yet to see any major projects cancelled or funding cuts. Time will tell.

• The rate of mergers across super funds has been staggering. Can we expect the same level of corporate activity?

• With international flights resuming, should we expect to see more skilled resources coming back onshore or skilled visas arriving? We have not experienced this yet but suspect there is a lag associated with visa processing and people committing to moving.

• With companies continuing to stagger their workers back into the office, will companies expect people to be in the office more regularly and how will this impact remote workers (i.e. interstate, regional).

If you would like to discuss any of the above or would like to have a general discussion about the market, please call Steve Ash on 0439 441 758.