It is a truth universally acknowledged that nobody – from massive pension and sovereign wealth funds to the asset managers that they invest with – actually likes benchmarks. They were born from a desire to create accountability, but the humble benchmark is now the bane of many investors’ existence, who struggle to align the horizons… [Read More…]
Climate-reporting relief in sight as XRB tables one-year assurance extension
Fund managers and other climate-reporting entities will get an extra year to finalise emissions assurance programs among other compliance delays under proposed amendments published by the External Reporting Board (XRB) last week. Licensed investment managers (with $1 billion plus under management) along with most NZX-listed companies, insurers and banks were due to supply third-party-audited carbon… [Read More…]
GSF hires Robeco, misses reference as global private assets drag
Dutch quant manager, Robeco, has joined the Government Superannuation Fund (GSF) global equities panel, filling a gap left vacant by the now-defunct UK psych-conscious investor, Ardevora, last December. In its just-published annual report, the GSF reveals Robeco, which also advises a portfolio for the NZ Superannuation Fund, came aboard at the end of July this… [Read More…]
Mega-cap gravity keeps active managers under water, SPIVA finds
Almost two-thirds of the more than 8,400 active funds included in a S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) global database underperformed their respective benchmarks during the first six months of 2024. The half-year S&P DJI SPIVA scorecard shows active equity managers flailed against strong index-based tides pulled to record highs by just a handful of… [Read More…]
Smart eyes efficient ETF market as product cycle cranks up
In a well-signalled move, Smart rolled four new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) off the factory line last week. The fresh batch of on-trend ETFs reflect the NZX-owned funds management arm sharpened focus on meeting market needs, according to Smart chief, Anna Scott. “We’re a product manufacturer,” Scott said. “We want to give NZ investors options.” She… [Read More…]
BNP Paribas switches on ESG portfolio-tester for NZ and Australia
BNP Paribas Securities Services has released its European road-tested environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance tool in Australia and NZ amid a step-up in regulatory oversight of sustainable investment practices in the region. In a release, BNP Paribas said the newly launched service would allow Australasian fund managers and asset owners to “incorporate customisable and… [Read More…]
Pension funds report rare mis-fire in 2023
Global pension funds posted an atypical aggregate net below-benchmark annual investment performance during 2023, according to a specialist research house. New figures from CEM Benchmarking found the average ‘net value added’- or NVA – of the US$14 trillion of pension fund money it tracks fell into the red for the “first time in a decade”… [Read More…]
Game has changed for ‘stagnant’ asset management industry: American Century
When you’re good at doing something – say, traditional long-only equity management – it’s very tempting to keep doing it. That’s part of the reason why asset managers all around the world have been caught flat-footed as a series of disruptive changes have swept the industry they once ruled, according to Jonathan Thomas, CEO of… [Read More…]
FMA chief hoses down fund liquidity guide concerns for private assets; COFI entities get licensing hurry-up
Financial Markets Authority (FMA) chief, Samantha Barrass, has knocked back industry fears that current fund liquidity guidelines serve as a barrier to government plans to increase investments in private assets. In a letter sent to licensed fund managers last week, Barrass says the regulator had received feedback that the liquidity guide, as updated this April,… [Read More…]
MJW study finds KiwiSaver in fighting form
KiwiSaver has been declared statistically competitive once more in the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) analysis of the sector. The just-released MJW report found KiwiSaver competitiveness, as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), improved slightly year-on-year after ending a little more concentrated in the previous annual period. According to the study, the HHI score for… [Read More…]