Archives for 2016

The Financial Advisers Act (FAA) exposure draft is on track for a, slightly-postponed, release early in 2017, according to the official heading the project. James Hartley, Ministry of Business, Information and Employment (MOBIE) financial markets policy manager, said despite missing the initial end-of-2016 publication deadline, the FAA review remained a “high priority” for the government…. [Read More…]

In a surprise decision, Mercer has won the bidding for Pillar Administration for a similarly surprising low headline price of $35 million, pipping the frontrunner for the deal, Link Group. The sale process was not a happy one for the NSW Government. Mercer, which has an estimated market share of just 2 per cent under… [Read More…]

Fund admin business MMC is leading the charge to set industry standards on unit pricing error-reporting. Nicola Tait, MMC head of client services and marketing, said a working group convened by the firm – comprising administrators (both third-party and in-house), fund managers and supervisors – had agreed on thresholds for when unit-pricing mistakes require down-the-line… [Read More…]

NSW Treasury, which oversees the $70 billion NSW Government’s T-Corp amalgamation of the underlying investments of three separate Government-controlled funds, is expected to announce the winner of Australia’s largest-ever custody tender in the next couple of weeks. After a review and tender process, which lasted more than a year, JP Morgan has been selected as… [Read More…]

Robo-advice “has legs” across a much broader population than previously thought, according to Recep Peker, research director with Sydney-based firm Investment Trends. Peker said the results of a new Investment Trends survey, which sampled 9,000 online share investors and 1,450 financial advisers in five countries, found robo-advice was a population option for both lower-balance pre-retirees… [Read More…]

Australia and NZ still rank low in the fund manager gender diversity stakes despite a slight improvement since 2008, a new Morningstar global study has found. According to the Morningstar ‘Fund manager by gender’ report published last week, just 11 per cent of managed funds in Australia and NZ include a female portfolio manager compared… [Read More…]

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is piloting a range of big-data policing tools including the use of “predictive analytics” to spot financial crime before it happens. In a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) in Sydney last week, ASIC chair, Greg Medcraft, said predictive analytics would help the corporate cop in… [Read More…]

Devon Funds Management will reshuffle its top-level ranks next year following the resignation of a long-time senior executive. The change will see portfolio manager Slade Robertson assume the managing director role to be vacated by incumbent Mel Firmin next April. Paul Glass, Devon founder and executive chairman, said Firmin was “looking for a change” after… [Read More…]

Just a handful of managed investment scheme (MIS) applications are still in the queue as the licensing regime prepares for launch this week. Liam Mason, Financial Markets Authority (FMA) director of regulation, said the paperwork is pending on only three MIS licences for already-established entities. “We also have some applications for a few new entrants… [Read More…]

A new analysis has debunked the assumption that low fees inevitably equate with better outcomes for KiwiSaver investors. In fact, the study, released by Australian research house SuperRatings last week, found there was “often an inverse relationship between fees and investment outcomes achieved by members”. The research, which modeled the experience of KiwiSaver members in… [Read More…]