Passive investing has bloated the value and volatility of already overweight companies while possibly contributing to flat economic performance, according to a just-released academic paper. The study titled ‘Passive Investing and the Rise of Mega-Firms’ found flows to US S&P500 index exchange-traded funds over 25 years to the end of 2020 skewed returns and risk… [Read More…]
Facts and apps: how open-banking can help advisers (and clients)
Financial advisers stand to reap significant operational efficiencies from the looming ‘open-banking’ upgrade, a new study by specialist technology firm, Akahu, suggests. The Akahu report says the government-backed move to encourage open-banking providers in NZ will flow beyond account transfers, lending or payments into wider financial services including advice. In particular, the paper says streamlining… [Read More…]
Castle Point buy signals new retail flavour for Perpetual Guardian
Perpetual Guardian (PG) is set to emerge with a broader retail fund offering after its surprise purchase of the slimmed-downed Castle Point boutique last week. Patrick Gamble, PG chief, said the estate planning specialist would likely repackage some of its in-house wholesale and discretionary investment management service (DIMS) strategies as retail funds under its newly… [Read More…]
Fisher looks to hire-up on Kiwi Wealth growth; Kernel hurdles billion-dollar bar
Fisher Funds is staffing up as the approximately $25 billion investment manager continues to fold the Kiwi Wealth business into the mixture. The Takapuna-based firm, now headed by Simon Power, is on the hunt for three newly created senior general manager roles covering the respective divisions of KiwiSaver, managed funds and business development. “Like all… [Read More…]
NZ Super finds CIO temp in-house, gives Northern Trust data-warehousing job
NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has named long-time strategic tilting head, Alex Bacchus, to temporarily fill the gap left by departing chief investment officer, Stephen Gilmore. Gilmore ends his more than five-year stint as CIO for the now $75 billion sovereign wealth fund this month to assume the same role at the biggest US pension fund,… [Read More…]
BTNZ head of ops exits; Hope comes to FSC
The Westpac-owned funds management business, BTNZ, is looking for a new head of operations following the departure of incumbent, Philippa Newlove, last week. Newlove assumed the top ops job at BTNZ in January 2023 after an almost 12-year career at the bank-owned investment house back-office. Prior to BTNZ she held senior risk and registry management… [Read More…]
Pushing the frontiers of finance 2: resistance is futile, preparation is essential
After exploring the history and potential of new blockchain-based asset tokenisation technology to expand the frontiers of finance in part one of this series, NZ fintech expert, Binu Paul, details how some real-world pioneers have already boldly gone into the future… As explained previously, asset tokenisation holds out the promise of creating a modern… [Read More…]
Syndex to join forces with ASX clearing challenger
NZ-founded private markets platform, Syndex, has bolstered its presence across the Tasman after inking an agreement with a subsidiary of Australian financial technology firm, FinClear. Under a memorandum of understanding signed last week, Syndex and the FinClear-owned private capital administration operator, FCX, have agreed to create a formal partnership to provide shared services in both… [Read More…]
Global rich rebalance portfolios as mood lifts
Wealthy investors rebalanced portfolios last year in favour of fixed income, real estate as well as alternatives while slashing cash and trimming exposure to equities, according to the latest Capgemini survey of the global super-rich. The annual study of high net worth investors (HNWI) – defined as having at least US$1 million in spare change… [Read More…]
BRICs, BATTS and Chindia: why emerging markets is not meme-able
Quant-based fund shop, Acadian, has warned emerging markets investors off themes and memes as asset allocation tools in a genre notorious for inspiring acronyms built on empty concepts. While emerging markets (EM) are not alone in producing catchy letter-based investment thematics (see FAANGs, for example), the sector has thrown up some of the most alluring… [Read More…]