AMP NZ saw its adviser numbers drop by almost 15 per cent over 2018, the group’s latest results reveal. According to the firm’s 2018 figures released last week, AMP NZ adviser numbers shrank from 410 as at the end of 2017 to 350 a year later. The 14.6 per cent fall in the NZ adviser… [Read More…]
Archives for 2019
Disclose gets sorted
Investors will have access to almost real-time fund data and analytical tools via a new service to launch this week under the Commission for Financial Capability’s (CFFC) Sorted umbrella. The ‘Smart Investor’ website, due to go live on Wednesday, will allow users to compare funds, and other investments, across a range of metrics including fees,… [Read More…]
Mercer refreshes; JMI Wealth adds star AMP adviser
Mercer has named Michael Armitage in the newly-created position of head of investment consulting in Australia. Based in Melbourne, Armitage would also be “working closely” with the NZ investment team, a Mercer spokesperson said. Armitage, previously head of fund advisory for actuarial consulting firm Milliman in Australia, has 15 years experience in “investment strategy research,… [Read More…]
Industry climate change: why 2019 will be the hottest year on record for NZ financial services
There is no escape: legislation, regulation, technologisation and bureaucracitisation will sweep through every nook and cranny of the NZ financial services industry this year, an expert panel warned last week. The panel of lawyers and specialist financial technology consultants – assembled by DLA Piper and Mosaic Financial Services Infrastructure – highlighted the looming changes due… [Read More…]
Managers look to fill the gap in private credit
The global financial crisis was not all bad news. Australia and New Zealand, for instance, escaped recession. We may not have had the Royal Commission without it. And it has spawned a whole new industry sub-sector for fund managers – private credit. As regulators around the world introduced tough new requirements on the big banks… [Read More…]
Global investors want more from companies on ESG, executive pay
Institutional investors are demanding more corporate disclosure on sustainability, remuneration and business strategy to guide proxy-voting decisions, a new global survey has found. In a release, Kiran Vasantham, Morrow Sodali director of investor engagement, said: “This survey provides issuers with valuable insights on investor expectations and voting policies.” The survey conducted by corporate governance advisory firm,… [Read More…]
Link proves the benefit of diversification
If ever it needed an endorsement of its business strategy, Link Group produced another strong result as its UK acquisition kicked in just at the right time, with regulatory changes starting to impede growth in the core super admin business. The result for the six months to December, announced last Friday, was the first time… [Read More…]
Global asset manager-led consortium takes half of Pathfinder
The formerly Takapuna-based boutique manager, Pathfinder, has sold down a 51 per cent stake to Alvarium Wealth Management, a newly-created consortium majority-owned by the $25 billion global asset manager LJ Partnership. Last year LJ Partnership (due to adopt the Alvarium Partners name) along with Christchurch investment firm Tailorspace bought half of another Auckland fund manager,… [Read More…]
New KiwiSaver robo-adviser activated
Robot number four has been approved to offer digital financial advice in NZ. The Auckland-based National Capital, owned by authorised financial adviser (AFA) Clive Fernandes earned the right to offer robo-advice services via an exemption issued at the end of January. National Capital joins Kiwi Wealth, Nikko Asset Management and Cigna Life as ‘digital advice providers’… [Read More…]
Mehrts drops BNZ role, kicks off again for Sydney
Andrew Mehrtens, the former All Blacks great who has spent the last several years in financial services commuting between Australia and New Zealand, has left his current role with BNZ to return full-time to Australia. Mehrtens moved to Australia with his family to take up a senior sales role, in 2013, with a wealth manager… [Read More…]