Market conditions are such that, if there are lessons from the tech bubble period of 1998-99, investors should be cautiously rotating out of growth stocks, bonds and most developed markets in favour of value stocks, emerging markets, and real assets, according to Rob Arnott. The renowned value investor and founder of Research Affiliates says in… [Read More…]
Afiniation delivers rapid-fire fintech ideas
The loose collaboration among participants in Australia and New Zealand’s embryonic fintech industry came together in Melbourne earlier this month. Two dozen presenters provided an array of developing ideas, from robo-advice to blockchain technology, in front of potential investors. The event was organised by Afiniation, a group founded last year by former UBS executive Ian… [Read More…]
Factor investing not without its risks – Asness
With the rise of factor investing and smart-beta strategies so, too, have come some new risks, such as the temptation to “factor time” and the increasing weight of money possibly leading to more market crashes. A new paper by Cliff Asness warns against “the siren song of factor timing”. Asness, a founder and CIO of… [Read More…]
Russell designs risk-lite carbon diet for equity investors
Russell Investments has cooked up a new hybrid model designed to burn-off carbon from global equities portfolios without contaminating underlying risk profiles. In a paper published this March, Russell laid out a proposal to help institutional equity investors comply with the United Nation-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) September 2014 Montréal Carbon Pledge, which to… [Read More…]
NZ Funds directors back on board
After a six-year hiatus two of New Zealand Funds Management’s seminal directors have been reappointed to the board. Co-founder Gerald Siddall and Russell Tills, who together led the NZ Funds business from the late 1980s until 2009, both rejoined the boutique manager’s board as non-executive directors as at March 21 this year. Siddall and Tills,… [Read More…]
Milford and NZ Super confirm split, still friends
Milford Asset Management has been formally removed from the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) roster in what has been billed as an amicable divorce. The news comes almost a year to the day since NZS suspended the $281 million Milford NZ equities mandate in the wake of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) investigation into alleged… [Read More…]
AMP Capital investment strategy chief hands in notice
Just two weeks after the exit of multi-asset chief, AMP Capital NZ has lost another senior executive. Grant Hassell, AMP Capital NZ chief, confirmed Keith Poore, the group’s head of investment strategy resigned last week in the wake of the latest round of top-level restructuring. “Keith’s resignation follows recent changes we made to better leverage… [Read More…]
ANZ fast-tracks new hire to portfolio manager role
ANZ Investments has promoted recent hire, Daria Murray, from an analyst role to take on full-blown portfolio management duties. UK import Murray joined ANZ as an equity analyst last August after a brief turn as Australasian shares portfolio manager at the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS). According to an ANZ spokesperson, Murray has now taken… [Read More…]
Licence could chill boutique innovation
The new managed investment scheme (MIS) regime could see a reduction in the number of fund managers open to retail investors, according to John Berry, Pathfinder Asset Management director. Berry said anecdotal evidence suggest several boutique firms would not apply for an MIS licence – a condition under the Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMC) to… [Read More…]
Study finds outsize Aussie bank NZ profits, bloated NZX managerial class
Australian banks reaped returns from their NZ subsidiaries that exceeded the collective profits of almost all NZX-listed companies, University of Auckland economics professor, Tim Hazeldine, told an Australian industry symposium last week. Hazeldine told the Paul Woolley Centre workshop in Sydney that his analysis of 110 NZX stocks showed their combined profits fell below that… [Read More…]