Fund managers and their institutional clients all know about alpha losses due to market impact and other trading-related leakages but the losses are often hard to quantify. According to a study by the global trading network Liquidnet, volatility is on average 250 per cent higher for brokers and smaller dark pools. The results of the… [Read More…]
Korea’s Mirae Asset to launch across the Tasman
Mirae Asset Global Investments, the big Korean-owned global funds management and property group, has opened an Australian office for its investment firm, recruiting a former institutional business development manager at AMP Capital, Chris Wildman, to head business development for the operation. Mirae Asset is a diversified manager across the major asset classes but is particularly… [Read More…]
Life goes on for FSC as report looms
Despite continuing dissent in its ranks the Financial Services Council NZ (FSC) was unlikely to bleed more members, according to sources familiar with the matter. The resignation of four members in the space of a few months has prompted fears the industry body representing big-end-of-town insurance and investment firms could be on the verge of… [Read More…]
Manager calls for GST justice
Moving to GST-free funds would create an expensive problem for the local industry, according to Rebecca Thomas, head of Mint Asset Management. Thomas said Inland Revenue Department (IRD) proposals to slash GST on fees to zero from the current rate – where the sales impost is levied on 10 per cent of fund fees –… [Read More…]
Doubt cast over result in Towers-Willis merger countdown
With just days to go before the crucial vote on the US$18 billion merger of global asset consultant Towers Watson and big insurance broker Willis, doubt has been cast over the result. The two largest proxy voting firms and at least one fund manager are urging a ‘no’ vote. The vote, on November 18 (US… [Read More…]
Millionaires factory rolls out robot
Macquarie Bank is the latest big brand Australian financial institution to join the robo-advice revolution, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) last week. The SMH report says Macquarie would launch the ‘OwnersAdvisory’ investment advice system next month, featuring access to 30,000 underlying products and a flat fee-for-advice structure. A Macquarie spokesperson… [Read More…]
Regulator to tidy fund fees mess
New Zealand’s fund managers will have to adopt a more consistent approach to fund fee and returns calculations as well as how they are disclosed under new regulatory guidelines currently up for consultation. In its recently-published proposals, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) notes NZ fund managers have taken often-divergent approaches to calculating and disclosing fees,… [Read More…]
Staples Rodway cans PIEs
Staples Rodway has exited the funds management game, winding up its two portfolio investment entity (PIE) products. Wayne Powell, Staples Rodway senior investment adviser, said investors in the PIEs – launched in May 2013 under the SRIM label – would be transitioned into similar “non discretionary portfolios” administered by FNZ. “We wanted to utilise the… [Read More…]
Savings pool floats above $30bn mark
KiwiSaver funds under management (FUM) topped $30 billion for the first time in the September quarter, according to the latest figures from Australian-based research house, Plan for Life. As at September 30 this year total KiwiSaver FUM exceeded $30.7 billion, the Plan for Life report says, up almost 4 per cent or $1.4 billion over… [Read More…]
Boring local LPT sector looks for some action
New Zealand’s listed property trusts (LPTs) have become more active in managing their portfolios, according to Shane Solly, Harbour Asset Management director. Solly said there had been a noticeable uptick in LPT activity in “acquiring and disposing of properties and in development or redevelopment projects”. “Depending on the proportion [of the LPT] assets involved in… [Read More…]