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    Our story

    Our story

    Your journey. Not ours.

    Not satisfied that client needs were being properly met by asset managers, we chose a different approach.

    We start by identifying your desired outcome, and focus on helping you maximise the certainty of achieving it.

    To do this, we:

    • direct significant resources to diagnosing the critical risks that influence your outcome
    • have developed active fixed income and derivative investment tools that help you target risk exposures more precisely
    • design solutions that aim to be more resilient against uncertainty

    Read our differentiated mission statement.

    We offer a comprehensive range of specialised capabilities that help clients at different stages of their investment journey.

    Insight’s goal has been to solve the real investment problems faced by our clients, with our capabilities focused on areas where we believe we can deliver an edge.

    Amy Clements, Head of Distribution, Australia and New Zealand
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    Over 30 years in Australia

    Over 30 years in Australia

    Through our heritage business, Insight has worked with Australian clients since 1993 and currently manages assets of A$68.7bn1 for investors in Australia.

    Through our heritage business, Insight has worked with Australian clients since 1993 and currently manages assets of A$68.7 billion1 for investors in Australia.

    A history of Insight Investment

    1. 1993
    2. 1998
    3. 2003
    4. 2004
    5. 2005
    6. 2006
    7. 2007
    8. 2011
    9. 2013
    10. 2015
    11. 2016
    12. 2017
    13. 2018
    14. 2019
    15. 2020
    16. 2021
      • Through our heritage business, Insight has worked with Australian clients since 1993, initially focusing on managing currency risk
      • Insight launched its global sovereign strategy
      • Developed the Insight business to focus on managing risk for pension plans, looking beyond simple bond exposure to develop more precise and efficient forms of liability-driven investment (LDI)
      • Mellon Financial Corporation acquired full ownership of the firm
      • Flagship multi-asset strategy launched
      • Pioneered use of interest rate and inflation derivative strategies to hedge liability risks, reducing the funded status volatility for pension plans
      • The legal structure of the firm was changed to a limited company
      • Year we began managing custom derivative overlay programmes
      • Developed institutional-quality absolute return fixed income strategies for wholesale market to better align client returns with their target outcomes
      • Founding signatory to UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
      • Insight launched its absolute return bond strategy
      • Mellon Financial Corporation and The Bank of New York Company merged
      • Insight launched its global credit strategy
      • Pareto Investment Management became part of Insight effective from January 1, 2013, Insight Pareto was launched in Australia and North America
      • As of 1 January 2015, the acquisition of Cutwater Asset Management strengthened Insight Investment’s investment team in the US, deepening Insight’s investment expertise in the largest fixed income market in the world
      • As of 5 February 2016 Insight Pareto was rebranded as Insight Investment in Australia
      • Partnered with clients to develop strategies with impact and sustainability targets to help them better integrate ESG risks in their portfolios
      • Insight’s solutions and fixed income investment teams are brought together under Global Chief Investment Officer Adrian Grey
      • We were awarded A and A+ ratings across all relevant categories in the PRI survey, reflecting our ongoing commitment to integrating responsible investment practices across all aspects of our business
      • Partnered with multiple clients to manage truly integrated solutions across their plan – enabling them to holistically address more factors that influence their investment journey, use assets efficiently for multiple purposes, and balance competing needs more effectively
      • Introduced proprietary ESG ratings, incorporating multiple data sources and our analysts’ views to generate scores for over 650,000 subsidiaries for 2,600 parent entities2 – seeking to resolve gaps and inconsistencies in widely available ESG data, and to support it with our own expert analysis
      • Launched a major industry-wide engagement in the UK, encouraging stakeholders to respond to proposed changes to inflation measures – the proposals could have a negative impact on pensioners’ future retirement income and how pension plans hedge inflation risks
      • Insight’s currency capabilities, ranging from foreign exchange hedging to currency alpha, are brought together under the oversight of Francesca Fornasari, Head of Currency Solutions.
      • We further enhanced our non-bank repo exposure: Access to the repo market without bank involvement diversifies counterparty risk exposure, and reduced trading costs save a typical client c.5 basis points a year. This means a client with $1bn liability hedging may save c.$500,000 pa.
      • We substantially expanded our responsible investment policy, to spell out in detail the six principles that guide our business and investment approach. The new policy includes a Corporate Conduct Statement, outlining the conduct we expect from the corporates in which we invest.
      • Introduced Efficient Beta (2005) and US Municipals (1987) capabilities as part of the transition of fixed income teams from Mellon Investments.3

    What makes Insight different?

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      Outcomes matter, not simply benchmarks

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      Certainty, not risk

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      Capabilities, not products

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      High-touch, not set-and-forget

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      Advocates, not just partners

    • We recognise that you are investing for a specific purpose.

      Whether we are managing tailored strategies or pooled funds, we focus on achieving a clear, defined outcome.

       

       

    • We avoid forecast-based investment models as the real world is uncertain. Instead, we focus on investment strategies, such as contractual assets, that offer higher certainty in attaining your desired outcome.

      We also aim to build flexible and resilient portfolios that help you navigate future shocks.

    • We build each capability to solve a specific client problem, not to sell products.

      We develop further expertise as clients’ needs evolve, often challenging conventional thinking and innovating to meet new challenges.

    • As a client, you have ongoing access to multiple experts, from portfolio managers and actuaries to solutions designers and lawyers at every step of your journey.

      Our primary objective is an unwavering focus on quality of performance and quality of client service. This means doing the hard things, such as extra research, tailored portfolios and bespoke reporting.

    • We believe in mutual respect and honest challenge. We welcome ongoing engagement with our clients to ensure we keep developing to meet their needs.

      We dig deep with you to diagnose the true problem. Our specialists will partner with you to analyse your needs and cross-examine your objectives before working with you to create a suitable strategy.

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    Investing responsibly

    Investing responsibly

    All risks, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, can affect the value of an investment. We analyse ESG issues as standard, using proprietary tools and, where appropriate, engage with companies and governments to better understand the risks.

    All risks, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, can affect the value of an investment. Therefore, we analyse ESG issues as standard and, where appropriate, engage with companies and governments to better understand the risks. We also deepen our understanding through our proprietary ESG tools, such as the investment industry’s first climate risk model for corporate fixed income.

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