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…]
Search Results for: coronavirus
Morningstar issues wake-up call for theme-dreamers
Global research house, Morningstar, has prepped investors for disappointment amid a ‘thematic’ fund boom. In a new report on the sector, the researcher notes that while thematic funds have experienced record growth in recent years as well as outperformance, history suggests the good times won’t last for long. “Over the past 15 years, more than… [Read More…]
From real world problems to real asset solutions
Can real asset investors decarbonise to future-proof portfolios? Transforming the built environment is critical to decarbonising our economy. Carbon emissions from buildings and infrastructure are responsible for 60 per cent of emissions globally1. In the UK, 80 per cent of buildings standing in 2050 will have already been built2 and across the developing world buildings… [Read More…]
FMA mulls no-action again in delta times
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) could reprise its 2020 COVID-related regulator reporting relief measures if the recent delta wave rolls on. In a note issued last week, the FMA said while regulated entities affected by the new lockdowns could seek ‘no action’ relief on a case-by-case basis it “may also grant class exemptions as a… [Read More…]
US regulator kills Aon-Willis merger, triggers US$1bn break fee
Aon will pay a US$1 billion break fee to Willis Towers Watson (WTW) after a proposed marriage between the two global insurance broking and professional services firms fell over last week. In a joint statement, Aon and WTW blamed the end of their 16-month engagement on a legal challenge from the US Department of Justice… [Read More…]
Return of the real: why not negative is not positive
MFS global investment strategist, Robert Almeida, has joined a growing chorus of market participants calling the end of the negative rates era with a “day of reckoning” ahead for risk assets. In a note penned last week, Almeida says while the widely expected impending burst of inflation is likely to prove “transitory”, real interest rates… [Read More…]
Platform stats highlight post-pandemic mood shifts
New data from direct-to-consumer fund platform InvestNow shows a marked pandemic reaction in March last year followed by a swift swing back to growth assets. However, the InvestNow figures – which track monthly net fund flows – reveal the COVID-19 crisis did shift asset class sentiment for the rest of 2020 with listed property, in… [Read More…]
COVID prompts retirement commission to sort strategy
The Commission for Financial Capability (CFFC) will launch a new ‘national strategy’ this month developed in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Retirement Commissioner (RC), Jane Wrightson, told a parliamentary committee last month that the CFFC would unveil the new approach on April 16, targeting financial resilience, better stakeholder co-operation and access to ‘independent’ guidance…. [Read More…]
Bryan Gray released after 32 years in custody
Bryan Gray, a genuine stalwart of, and major contributor to, the strong position of Australia and New Zealand’s asset servicing sector, has retired. He spent 12 years at State Street followed by nearly 20 years at J.P. Morgan. Gray is the only person to have been chair of the Australian Custodial Services Association twice, in… [Read More…]
Jumping lessons: what all investors can learn from GameStop loss
Mint head of sales, David Boyle, explains why the ongoing GameStop experience holds lessons for new-breed investors and the old-school financial industry on handling the highs and lows of markets. Boyle takes it to the bridge… If an online entity called ‘Roaring Kitty’ suggested a bridge-jumping strategy might be just what you need to improve… [Read More…]
Aegis sale dents ASB 2020 funds income but flows, markets repair damage
The Commonwealth of Australia Bank (CBA) NZ subsidiary, ASB, recorded a 4 per cent decline in funds management revenue for the last half of 2020 compared to the same period a year earlier, largely due to its exit from the investment administration business. According to the CBA half-year results released last week, ASB funds management… [Read More…]
Bitcoin: the nonsensical asset that makes sense for the times
When a 25-year-old English fund manager with £21 billion (A$37 billion) under management discloses it had made a sizable investment in bitcoin, it is bound to give the institutionalisation of the crypto currency a big kickalong. This is especially so when the manager regards bitcoin as a potential store of wealth and not an alternative… [Read More…]
… as FMA deficit higher ahead of funding upgrade
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) reported a worse-than-budgeted deficit in the 2019/20 fiscal year, falling $5.6 million into the red largely on ballooning employment costs and a shortfall in adviser licensing revenue. According to the FMA annual report released last week, the latest deficit was about $850,000 above budget forecasts of $4.7 million. Employee expenses… [Read More…]
Notes on a crisis: why the new market music could be noisy
Almost all global pension investors expect post-COVID financial markets to follow a W path or play an accordion-like tune, a new survey has found. The study by UK-based research firm, Create, shows almost half of the respondents projected a W-shaped recovery ahead while 36 per cent forecast an accordion future featuring “a series of mini… [Read More…]
Disease, debt and cyber-worries top 2021 financial fear factors
Despite the imminent release of vaccines, COVID-19 remains the number one threat to financial stability in the year ahead, according to a new study by The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). The 2021 DTCC ‘Systemic Risk Barometer’, based on a survey of 220 financial institutions globally, found about two-thirds of respondents were concerned both… [Read More…]
Sharesies looks to plant flag in Aussie market, readies ASX equities
The Wellington-based online investment platform, Sharesies is sounding out the Australian market for possible expansion. Brooke Roberts, co-founder of Sharesies, said the firm was currently recruiting for an Australian country manager. “We are looking at launching Sharesies in Australia,” Roberts said. “But at the moment we’re working on a product that might fit the market… [Read More…]
DTCC finds trading costs shrink by up to 25% via automation
Large financial institutions could slash back-office trading costs by up to a quarter through automation, a new white paper by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) claims. The DTCC findings, based on a survey of nine large global trading institutions, found automating seven key back-office processes could reduce costs by between 20-25 per cent…. [Read More…]
Liquidity blues remain in spite of central bank cash splash
Central bank largesse lubricated the relatively squeak-free ride of the global asset management industry through the COVID-19 crisis to date but liquidity risks remain high, according to a new Amundi Asset Management report. In a ‘blue paper’ published last week, Amundi says only 117 out of the 35,000 funds sold in Europe froze redemptions since… [Read More…]
Hybrid technology: how robots, digital tools and humans can bridge the financial literacy gap
Rachel Strevens, founder of NZ fintech pioneering firm, Invsta, explains why robo-advice served up with user-friendly digital tools and human connections could boost financial literacy, consumer outcomes and advisory business options… One of the key themes that emerged out of the recent Financial Services Council (FSC) New Zealand Generations Conference was the issue of financial… [Read More…]
Henaghan quits AMP Capital, makes NZ home again
AMP Capital has lost another senior executive as its multi-asset group chief investment officer, Sean Henaghan, rounded off his 15-month sabbatical with a formal resignation last week. Henaghan, who has washed up in NZ following extensive travels through the Americas, was past due to rejoin the embattled Australian funds management group but has instead opted… [Read More…]