Consulting Financial Economists AUSTRALIA ASSETS OF IS THE 4TH LARGEST PENSION SYSTEM IN THE WORLD $US 1,565 BILLION SOURCE: GLOBAL PENSION ASSET STUDY 2014 , TOWERS WATSON 27.4638° S, 153.0357° E STORY BRIDGE, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA BACKGROUND OBJECTIVE Drew, Walk & Co. (DWC) was formally established as a firm in late 2012 DWC strives to offer: by Dr Michael E. Drew and Dr Adam N. Walk after a number of years working as colleagues in the superannuation, investment and university sectors. • Expertise born of advanced training and commercial experience; • A model where clients deal with the principals of the business; • Disciplined fiduciary thinking, where we act in the interests of our DWC’s establishment was inspired by three things. • Drew and Walk share the belief that in the field of finance the clients first and foremost; & • academic and practitioner worlds complement each other – a true An outlook where success is defined as more than just financial performance. nexus between academe and practice; • Superannuation – or “pensions” for those outside of Australia – is one of the most important issues in modern Australian life, with political, public policy and personal dimensions and ramifications. CLIENTS As such, it deserves close attention. • There financial sector has over time moved to corporate models of DWC deals exclusively with institutions, including: ownership where the distance between the owner of the financial • Defined benefit plans; • Defined contribution plans (including superannuation funds); • Endowments and foundations; a rise of a narrow economic focus in business relationships, and • Insurance assets; a rapid and dramatic fall in the regard in which financial services • Sovereign wealth funds; professionals are held. • Family offices; • Private banks; • Financial planning firms; • Corporates. firm and the client has grown. In our view, the distance between financial firms and their clients has increased leading to a number of undesirable consequences: a weakening of the fiduciary outlook, We do not provide services to individual investors. Drs Drew and Walk provide pro bono services to a range of entities. Please consult the website for further information. 3 CAPABILITIES CAPABILITIES Consulting Research DWC’s principal consulting activities can be summarised as follows: DWC has a heritage of producing rigorous and actionable applied • Strategy and design • Financial modelling • Investment governance and policy • Counsel • Decision support • Training • Litigation support financial research. This research has been tested by academic audiences and implemented by practitioners. Drs Drew and Walk remain research-active academics and therefore continue to build their research profiles amongst their fellow scholars. For further information on their publications please consult the website. Our primary areas of expertise are as follows: • Superannuation/ pension finance; • All aspects of investment management; In the event that an interested party has needs that don’t fit neatly into • Asset pricing; one of the above categories, we would be most glad to discuss your • Investment governance; particular requirements. In the event that we do not have the expertise • Asset class research; and “in-house”, through our network of associates we are usually able to • Performance evaluation. access appropriate experts in most areas of economics and finance We would welcome enquiries by any party wishing to commission a research paper or program. Engagement type: Modelling plan design Client type: Superannuation fund Engagement type: Research Program Objective: The client is an innovative mid-size superannuation fund Client type: Industry Association dedicated to serving its unique membership. A critical part of this mission is the design of fund’s default investment option. In light of the lessons learned from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the impending implementation of the Stronger Super reforms, the fund sought to investigate the simulated performance of existing and alternative default designs, from the perspective of retirement adequacy, in order to inform Trustee Objective: The client has a long heritage of contributing to the public policy debate on the basis of rigorous research. Because of the importance of superannuation investing to Australians, the client committed to a multi-year research program to investigate important elements of the debate. The client sees this program as an integral part of its role as an advocate for the industry and it professionals. decision making. Engagement: The research program delivers one research paper per Engagement: The modelling engagement involved simulating retirement annum for three years, with each paper formally launched at an event adequacy using state-of-the-art non-parametric quantitative methods held in each mainland state capital. In order to further evidence the based on assumptions agreed with the client. This formed the basis rigour of the research, the papers have been (and will continue to be) of a detailed (and fully cited) presentation that was delivered by DWC submitted to peer-reviewed journals for publication with appropriate directors to the fund’s Board of Trustees. 4 acknowledgements. JAPAN ASSETS OF IS THE 3RD LARGEST PENSION SYSTEM IN THE WORLD $US 3,236 BILLION SOURCE: GLOBAL PENSION ASSET STUDY 2014 , TOWERS WATSON 35.685196°, 139.763881° OTEMACHI, TOKYO, JAPAN USA ASSETS OF IS THE LARGEST PENSION SYSTEM IN THE WORLD $US 18,878 BILLION SOURCE: GLOBAL PENSION ASSET STUDY 2014 , TOWERS WATSON 40.7064° N, 74.0094° W WALL STREET, NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UK IS THE 2ND LARGEST PENSION SYSTEM IN THE WORLD ASSETS OF $US 3,263 BILLION SOURCE: GLOBAL PENSION ASSET STUDY 2014 , TOWERS WATSON 51.5144° N, 0.0803° W ST MARY AXE, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM DIRECTORS MICHAEL DREW ADAM WALK Dr Michael E. Drew is Director at Drew, Walk & Co. Michael is a leader in Dr Adam N. Walk is Director at Drew, Walk & Co. Adam has around 12 the field of superannuation and pension fund design, with over 20 years’ years professional experience in finance and risk management roles, experience in financial services and academe. He is well known for his most recently as Head of Research in QIC’s Lifecycle Strategies group, work on the portfolio size effect and sequencing risk. In addition to his where he was responsible for the group’s research, portfolio design current Professorial appointment, he has served on the finance faculty and investment risk management activities. Before that he worked as a at the Australian National University and the Queensland University of research consultant in QIC’s Strategy group, concurrent with university Technology. Michael has held Senior Executive and Trustee Committee teaching and doctoral research. Previously he was a senior investment appointments with the QIC Limited, QSuper, Wilson HTM, Ord Minnett professional at QSuper Limited, where he provided investment policy and and JB Were & Son. risk advice to fiduciaries overseeing more than $50 billion in assets, and Michael’s research has studied and developed new approaches to the design of the default option in defined contribution funds, as well Adam is a financial economist and research academic, whose work as devising winning strategies for lifecycle and target date funds. In focusses on superannuation, pension finance, investment management 2009, Michael was invited to appear before a joint hearing of the and investment governance. His research has been published in scholarly US Department of Labor and the Securities Exchange Commission in journals and other publications, including the United Nations Conference Washington DC where he presented testimony relating to his research on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment and Enterprise on target date funds. Michael’s research on superannuation was Responsibility Review. extensively cited by the recent Cooper Review, and has been widely cited by industry, academic, regulatory and government agencies. Michael has completed numerous consulting projects, including research for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. In 2011, Michael was awarded the Finsia (Financial Services Institute of Australasia) Pinnacle Award for Most Outstanding Thought Leader to celebrate 125 years for the peak industry body. Michael is a classically-trained economist and research academic, whose work focusses on superannuation and pension finance, investment management and investment governance. Michael is an active company director with appointments on a number of boards and advisory committees associated with not-for-profit organisations. He received his PhD (in the field of Economics) from the University of Queensland. 8 a risk manager at Bank of Queensland. Adam is an active company director with appointments on a number of boards and committees associated with not-for-profit organisations. He received his PhD in Financial Economics from Griffith University. “Water is the driving force of all nature” LEONARDO DA VINCI 9 -27.4688°, 153.03088° EAGLE STREET, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA DREWWALK.CO @DREWWALKCO DREW, WALK & CO SUITE 34, BALLOW CHAMBERS, 121 WICKHAM TERRACE, SPRING HILL, QLD 4000 11
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