Better public, private markets can nab instos

Australia can ensnare large investors away from the US amid its unpredictable trade wars and social and political unrest if it gets the settings around private and public markets right. Many institutional investors, experts say, are already considering their options.

- Karren Vergara

Future Fund chief executive Raphael Arndt is seeing large global investors question their exposure to the US and Australia's $308 billion sovereign wealth fund is in the same boat.

“Many, many investors, including the Future Fund, are thinking hard about whether we should and how we should diversify that exposure,” Arndt told ASIC’s recent Symposium on Private and Public Markets at the University of Technology Sydney.

“Australia is right up there in terms of attractive investment destinations around the world right now, alongside parts of Europe and Japan.”

In the listed markets, Arndt says the US comprises between 60% and 70% of the market cap while the private markets hold an even bigger slice.

A major takeaway from the event was that the corporate regulator needs to get the settings right in both public and private markets to attract new investors.

Determined to revive the stock market, ASIC initiated a two-year trial on June 10 to speed up listings on the ASX.

ASX Fast-track is available to companies expected to have a market cap greater than $100 million on listing and no ASX imposed escrow.

Public listings hit their lowest in a decade.