Mavis Brown squirrelled away more than $4 million in secret during her remarkable life, pledging it to a new charitable trust she created through her will. But the secret is well and truly out after more than 23,000 people read her story through Equity Trustees’ latest philanthropic marketing campaign.

It has all the elements of great content: a compelling personal story about an ordinary person doing something truly extraordinary. A free-wheeling spirit who overcame adversity and left a legacy that will fund generations of South Australian students who may otherwise struggle to attend university.

You won’t find ‘launch a product during a market crash’ in the typical fund manager’s playbook. But for global actuarial firm Milliman, that’s exactly what happened. Its SmartShield Managed Accounts – designed to protect investors from a market crash – were launched just as the coronavirus pandemic locked down the economy in early-2020.

While the timing showed the funds’ strengths, financial advisers weren’t looking for new investment opportunities as equity markets plummeted by about one-third. Milliman Australia Head of Marketing, Neil De Beger, says it decided to instead release research that could give some comfort to advisers’ clients.