Chris Cuffe, the highly respected former Colonial First State CEO and current UniSuper chair, will launch his own publishing venture on February 8.

He told Investment Operations & Custody News he hoped the online newsletter and forum, which he is launching with three other “grey-haired colleagues”, will raise the quality of writing about Australian markets.

“With many of Australia’s more experienced business and finance journalists no longer employed by our major media outlets, much of what we read these days is often superficial ‘infotainment’ or little more than speculation on future market movements or stock prices,” Cuffe said.

The publication, to be called Cuffelinks will be edited Graham Hand, an old Colonial First state colleague who was the former deputy treasury of the State Bank of NSW. The other directors of the project are financial adviser Rick Cosier and financial markets academic David Bell.

Hand told Investment Operations & Custody News the directors did not intend for the newsletter to bring in revenue. It will be free, and will carry no advertising.

As media companies grapple with changing business models, many publishing ventures are being bought or started by owners with little previous connection to the media. For example, Wotif founder Graham Wood recently put up $5 million to start The Global Mail, and according to reports he also plans to invest in British newspaper The Guardian’s new Australian edition.

Private equity has also moved in on media assets, with Catalyst recently buying up trade publisher Reed Business Information Australia.