Stock-picking has never gone out of style for Julian McManus, portfolio manager on the Janus Henderson global alpha equity team, even if his preferred investment style is none. “We want to avoid style bias,” McManus said by correcting for any overt influence of well-known factors such as growth or value on the manager’s concentrated global… [Read More…]
BNZ finalises local fund shift, opens global manager review as FirstCape eyes further synergies
The newly rehoused BNZ KiwiSaver and funds business is set to complete its Australasian asset transfer to Harbour this week as cash and local fixed income portfolios change hands. As reported in March, Harbour was the beneficiary of the recent construction of FirstCape, which bundles the fund manager with the BNZ investment arm and the… [Read More…]
ANZ gives ground to ASB in solid KiwiSaver quarter
The gap between the two largest KiwiSaver providers shrank by almost 1 per cent in the March quarter as ASB gained ground on a flagging ANZ. Morningstar data shows the three ANZ schemes controlled 18.8 per cent KiwiSaver market share as at the end of March compared to 19.5 per cent three months previously: at… [Read More…]
ASIC slams super funds over advice fees as high as A$20,000
The Australian financial regulator has warned superannuation funds over poor advice practices akin to the ‘fees-for-no-service’ scandal uncovered in the 2018/19 Royal Commission. In a report handed down last week, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found “evidence of inadequate oversight of advice fee deductions” that could put super fund member savings at risk…. [Read More…]
Mosaic partners with Canadian firm for AI-powered climate-reporting; Pie docks with Bloomberg portfolio analytics system
Local financial services consultancy business, Mosaic, has struck a deal with a Toronto-based firm to provide climate-related disclosure tools in the NZ market. Mosaic will offer NZ clients access to AI-based software developed by Manifest Climate that allows businesses to “conduct gap analyses and peer benchmarking in real-time to align with regulation requirements, eliminating manual… [Read More…]
ESG adds wild swing factor to fund performance
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investors face outsize fund-specific selection risks with a wide dispersion of returns between similar strategies, according to a new Scientific Beta report. The study found a 6.5 per cent gap (or almost 5 per cent after allowing for industry tilts) between the best- and worst-performing strategy among a cohort of… [Read More…]
Tech and team: how BNP rides the private asset boom-loop
Private markets have been on a one-way trip upwards for the past few years, fueled by an insatiable institutional investor appetite for alternative sources of risk and return. According to a recent McKinsey report, global private market assets under management hit US$13.1 trillion as at the end of June last year following a growth trajectory… [Read More…]
Stewardship Code lands first community trust
Trust Waikato has emerged as the first community trust and the 20th overall signatory to the Aotearoa NZ Stewardship Code. In a statement, Maggie Zhang, Trust Waikato finance and investment manager, said making a formal commitment to the Code would “challenge us to apply best practice for our investment strategy”. “Despite being a smaller investor,… [Read More…]
Not the new China: putting India back on the investment map
India is often touted as the new China. But it’s not, according to Mugunthan Siva, India Avenue managing director, If anything India is the new US, Siva said, or to be more accurate, the old US. “India now has a similarity to the US at the beginning of the industrial revolution,” he said, citing a… [Read More…]
Changing correlations: high inflation-rates regimes keep bonds and shares in lock-step
Multi-asset investors may have to rethink assumptions about stock-bond correlations if inflation and interest rates remain high for a sustained period, a recent longitudinal study has found. Based on a comprehensive analysis of US and UK share and bond returns dating back to at least 1875 and more recent data for other jurisdictions, the report… [Read More…]