Archives for 2016

The New Plymouth Council (NPC) has found a home for the roughly $270 million previously controlled in-house by subsidiary Taranaki Investment Management Limited (TIML). In a decision confirmed at a Council meeting last week, the TIML mandate was awarded to one of the short-listed candidates understood to include Russell Investments, Mercer and Cambridge Associates. NPC… [Read More…]

The Wellington-based boutique Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS) has signed up BNP Paribas as back-office provider for two soon-to-be-released products under its new fund-hosting service. Doug Cameron, head of BNP Paribas NZ, said the deal involved both custody and fund administration services for the new IIS funds. “We’re very pleased with this new relationship and exciting… [Read More…]

Russell Investments has joined the growing band of managers to specifically exclude controversial weapons manufacturers from its investment universe. In a note to NZ clients earlier this month, Russell says the change followed a recent review of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) process. “This has resulted in the exclusion of companies involved in the… [Read More…]

Investors need to look beyond traditional measures of asset class volatility and correlation in portfolio construction, according to Mark Kritzman senior lecturer in finance MIT Sloan School of Management. In a paper published last week by the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF), Kritzman says while textbook portfolio theory assumes a “single distribution” regime… [Read More…]

The funds management industry is well versed in the benefits of investment diversity, which was first proven way back in the 1950s with the establishment of Modern Portfolio Theory. Why then have we not embraced gender diversity? In a 20-page white paper entitled: ‘Gender Diversity – The Real Reason We Are still Talking About It‘,… [Read More…]

‘Unknown unknowns’ could distort the probability curve for 2017 well beyond the norm, according to the latest cyclical outlook from global bond mega-manager PIMCO. The PIMCO analysis says events of the previous 12 months have put the world on notice for further surprises with the “only certainty” for 2017 “that the tails of the distribution… [Read More…]

Organisations need to set themselves up to embrace all the technological changes happening around the world, to embrace and adapt with the disruptions. The financial services industry is not immune from the trend. Pip Marlow, the outgoing managing director of Microsoft Australia, who last week announced she would join Suncorp as its first ‘CEO of… [Read More…]

Australia’s largest listed investment company (LIC) has gone mid-market over the last three years expanding its holdings by about 30 per cent in the process, according to Geoff Driver, general manager of the Australian Foundation Investment Company (AFIC). Driver, in NZ earlier this month presenting to AFIC local shareholders, said the A$6.5 billion Australian equities… [Read More…]

Rules are rules. End-of-year media sign-offs are required by law to include a top 10 list. And in a spirit of compliance, here’s the 10 most-read Investment News NZ (IN NZ) stories over 2016 in descending order: Advice reform puts clients first, ditches designations, welcomes robots Wellington investment admin firm opens up to the world… [Read More…]

NZ private equity investor, Pencarrow, has taken a 50 per cent stake in Auckland-based fund administration firm MMC via a new investment vehicle. In a deal confirmed last week, the Pencarrow Bridge Fund completed its first investment with the purchase of a half-share in the MMC holding company for an undisclosed sum. Nigel Bingham, Pencarrow… [Read More…]