Archives for 2019

Two global managers with big specialist emerging markets debt teams presented at Teik Heng Tan’s i3 (Investment Innovation Institute) fixed interest conference in Sydney last week. They were both very persuasive about the future important role of the asset class. The i3 ‘Fixed Income, Credit & Currency Forum’ was held on June 19 and included… [Read More…]

Mercer has looked in-house (but offshore) to replace outgoing NZ head of wealth, Russell Garrett, who ended an 11-year stint with the firm last week. In a note to clients, Mercer confirmed Adam McKenzie – currently partner and sales leader for the group’s Australian institutional business – would take up the NZ head of wealth… [Read More…]

Direct-to-consumer platform, InvestNow, has added two famous names to its growing product range after listing funds from both Milford Asset Management and Platinum Asset Management last week. Under the just-inked arrangements, InvestNow members have access to the Milford Diversified Income Fund and the Platinum International Fund. Also from this week, ANZ term deposits will be… [Read More…]

The $3 billion Wellington-based financial services firm, Booster, is close to sealing a couple of new private equity deals as it surpasses $100 million of investment in local small-to-medium (SME) business ventures. Allan Yeo, Booster founder and managing director, said the group was in negotiations with a specialist manufacturing firm and a kiwifruit business to… [Read More…]

On May 20 this year financial technology firm, Calastone, hit a milestone after switching its 1,800 global funds management industry clients on to blockchain. But the dream back-office ‘seamless transition’ only represents “base camp” for blockchain in the funds world, according to Campbell Brierley, Calastone chief innovation officer. Brierley, chief architect of the Calastone Distributed… [Read More…]

NZ independent financial advisers facing an imminent regime change can take heart from new UK data that shows the sector is flourishing there five years after a similar regulatory shake-up. Figures published by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) this month reveal that about 90 per cent of the 5,100 or so retail investment advisory… [Read More…]

The jury is in: ‘smart beta’ is active management not a passive play. In major annual shift in sentiment, the latest FTSE Russell global survey of the sector found just under half of institutional investors view smart beta – or factor-based investing – as an active punt compared to a third of respondents in the… [Read More…]

Institutional investors tend to be sceptical of the benefits of ETFs. ETFs have a wide spread, which can challenge an investor’s position. But increasingly they are being used for tactical purposes. BetaShares is setting the pace with new ETF offerings. Martin Currie Investment Management is the latest in the new BetaShares list, totalling 53 ETFs…. [Read More…]

About a fifth of Australian funds sustained outperformance records over long-term periods to the end of last year, according to new research from S&P Dow Jones. The S&P research, which matches a similar study the index provider carries out in the US, found that of the Australian-domiciled benchmark-beaters across all asset classes, almost 17 per… [Read More…]

A recently-launched ‘charity-of-charities’ plans to help plug NZ’s growing financial generation gap by channeling surplus government pension payments to groups combating child poverty. Sarah Trotman, Spend My Super chief executive, said while many retirees depended on the universal NZ Superannuation income for survival, the government-funded payment was simply extra pocket money for others. Trotman said… [Read More…]