Almost $350 million poured into the NZX-listed global equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on launch late in July, according to figures on the Smartshares website.
The NZX-owed subsidiary, Smartshares, reported total funds under management (FUM) across its nine Vanguard-backed global ETFs at about $346.5 million on July 31, just two days after the official listing date for the products.
Aaron Jenkins, NZX head of managed funds, told Investment News NZ (IN NZ) late in July, the group’s funds management subsidiary, SuperLife, would seed the global ETFs.
The approximately $1.3 billion SuperLife had already invested about $160 million into the range of Smartshares Australasian equity ETFs, the NZX reported earlier in July.
In its half-year results released last week, the NZX recorded total SuperLife FUM up 10.5 per cent over the period (including a 15.7 per cent growth in KiwiSaver funds). Excluding the SuperLife allocation, Smartshares saw FUM rise by 16.8 per cent in the six months to the end of June.
Fixed income and cash accounted for just over 41 per cent of its funds management investments, the NZX results show.
According to an NZX spokesperson, SuperLife FUM growth over the first half of 2015 reached $96 million, made up of investment returns of $68 million and net funds inflow of $28 million.
“Member numbers have increased approximately 1 per cent during the six months,” the spokesperson said.
Over the same period, the NZX reported funds management revenue of $4.8 million, with SuperLife contributing $3.2 million to that figure and Smartshares the remainder.
SuperLife added about $400,000 to NZX profits, the half-year results show. Excluding the $11.8 million one-off gain from the sale of its 50 per cent share in Link Market Services, the NZX reported a profit of $6.2 million during the six-month period, down 11.5 per cent on its previous result.
The NZX financial accounts put the current total cost of the Superlife acquisition at $32.9 million, including an initial $20 million payment (split evenly between cash and NZX shares) and contingent earn-out fees of $5 million in equity and $7.9 million in cash. If SuperLife meets all its performance conditions by 2017, the final cash payout could hit a maximum of $10 million.
Meanwhile, the fate of the other NZX-owned KiwiSaver scheme – the almost $40 million Smartkiwi – still hangs in the balance, the spokesperson said.
“No firm decisions have been made regarding Smartkiwi,” she said. “We are talking to a number of parties and will provide an update at later stage.”
However, the NZX confirmed it was on track to complete its purchase of wrap platform, Apteryx, by the end of this month.
“NZX has entered into a binding Sale and Purchase Agreement to acquire 100% of the Apteryx business for an initial payment of $1.5m, with a further $2.5m payable if funds under administration reaches $3.0b and annualised revenues reach $3.0m by 30 September 2016,” the results announcement says.
“This sale and purchase agreement is conditional on a number of pre-completion matters which are currently in the process of being satisfied.”
At a post-results press conference, Tim Bennett, NZX chief, said the group was also still in the market to purchase the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s clearing business, NZClear.