Search Results for: coronavirus

While APRA has asked big super funds and other institutions – and for them to ask their service providers – about their plans to deal with the pandemic – unnecessarily, one would have thought – the funds and their advisers are already onto the case as much as you could expect them to be. No-one… [Read More…]

If adopted as-is the in-transit financial institution conduct legislation could force AMP NZ out of the intermediary game, the wealth manager says in a submission. According to the AMP Wealth Management submission, the draft Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Bill would create onerous compliance duties on ‘intermediaries’ as loosely defined in the legislation. Under… [Read More…]

The NZ financial system plumbing remains in good shape in spite of a minor blockage in the share trading back end during March, according to the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ). In its latest ‘Financial stability report’ published last week, the RBNZ says most components of the background NZ market system functioned smoothly during the… [Read More…]

Listed fund management businesses have emerged relatively unscathed from the first round of COVID-19 market disruption, according to research from consultancy firm Casey Quirk. The Casey Quirk study found median revenue among a group of 19 publicly listed asset managers fell just 6.7 per cent over the March 2020 quarter, offset by an almost 4… [Read More…]

The US equities low-volatility index saw a record shake-up in constituents during the coronavirus market crisis, a new S&P Dow Jones analysis shows. At the latest low-volatility index three-month rebalancing date on May 15, the study says 64 stocks “rotated out” of the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index. “For context, the median annual turnover [of… [Read More…]

Disgruntled retail investors are pondering a class action against CMC Markets alleging the derivatives provider unfairly reset pricing on an oil futures product amid a bout of extreme market volatility. According a NZ-based investor caught out by the move, late in April CMC reset the reference point for its West Texas Index (WTI) crude oil… [Read More…]

Trust Waikato is targeting a third-quarter kick-off date for its new impact investment fund dubbed Te Puna Hapori. A spokesperson for the $400 million community trust, said the Trust Waikato sponsored impact fund “construction is progressing at a good pace and the current focus is on its capital raise”. “Trust Waikato expects to see the… [Read More…]

Local fixed income managers are looking to add duration as the spectre of a negative official cash rate (OCR) looms into view. David McLeish, Fisher Funds head of fixed income, said the manager had added longer-dated government bonds post the OCR call. McLeish said while the RBNZ held the OCR steady at 0.25 per cent,… [Read More…]

The NZ employer master trust sector shrank about $2 billion over the three months ending March 31 but the decline is only half as bad as it seems. According to the latest EriksensGlobal quarterly survey, total NZ master trust funds under management (FUM) tumbled to just over $6.8 billion at the end of March compared… [Read More…]

NZX general counsel Tim Bennett, (not to be confused with the former NZX chief of the same name*) has emerged as foundation director of a two new entities owned by the company. Bennett is listed as sole director of new NZX subsidiary, Smart Investment Management – a name that hints at an upcoming rebrand for… [Read More…]

Some Aon NZ staff and third-party suppliers have been hit with pay and fee cuts as the global financial services conglomerate reins in costs amid COVID-19 fears. In a letter sent to employees late in April, Aon chief, Greg Case, says “70% of our colleagues to take a reduction of approximately 20% of salary, which… [Read More…]

The current global pandemic will push the ‘S’ and ‘G’ components of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing higher up the engagement agenda, a new T Rowe Price report suggests. In the US-based manager’s second annual ESG report, Donna Anderson, head of corporate governance for the US$1 trillion plus T Rowe Price, says while the… [Read More…]

Most US financial services firms’ emergency response plans flopped in the wake of coronavirus lockdowns, according to a new Deloitte study. The Deloitte pop quiz of over 100 large US financial services businesses found that while almost 75 per cent of those surveyed were “better than moderately prepared” to cope with COVID “only 16 percent… [Read More…]

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has called for government to delay the introduction of the planned ‘culture and conduct’ regime originally slated for later this year. In a note published last week, the FSC, headed by Richard Klipin, says its submission on the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Bill – currently at select committee… [Read More…]

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) will waive its duty to prosecute entities and individuals under its watch for “statutory or regulatory” breaches due to COVID-19 – at least in the short term. In a note published last Friday, the FMA says many firms are facing “practical difficulties” in complying with regulations as the coronavirus lockdown… [Read More…]

The maybe-for-sale AMP NZ wealth division saw total assets under management fall by about $1.2 billion over the March quarter as net outflows and plunging investment markets hit home. According to figures released by the ASX-listed firm, the AMP NZ funds under management (FUM) dropped from almost A$12.3 billion at the end of last December… [Read More…]

Investors should target the halfway mark when rebalancing portfolios in volatile market conditions, Mercer argues in a recent paper. Mercer says while rebalancing to asset allocation targets is “good governance”, investors must “measure the desire to rebalance the portfolio against the cost and risk involved”. “The current market environment introduces several additional considerations to this… [Read More…]

AMP has ‘suspended’ the sale of its NZ wealth arm pending a return to less-volatile trading conditions, according to sources close to the deal. It is understood negotiations with short-list prospects – a group believed to include TA Associates, Mercer, Macquarie and KKR – have been halted. The ASX-listed group has been trying to offload… [Read More…]

Local corporate bonds have yet to make it on the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) balance sheet but the backstop facility has eased liquidity concerns in the market, deputy governor, Christian Hawkesby, told the emergency government committee last week. Hawkesby told the Epidemic Response Committee (ERC) last Thursday that the RBNZ had not to date… [Read More…]