David Chaplin

Only three bidders remain in the battle to purchase Russell Investments, according to a Reuters report published last week, down from six who made it through the first round of negotiations. The Reuters story names global consulting firm Towers Watson as favourite to pick up Russell with two Chinese businesses – Shanda Group and CITIC… [Read More…]

Investors need to be “more careful than ever before” when constructing portfolios, according to New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) principal economist, Shamubeel Eaqub. Eaqub told the Perfecting Investment Portfolios conference in Auckland last week that headline figures or total averages are no longer useful guides. “Investors need to know what’s driving each and… [Read More…]

The introduction of the Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMC) has lifted New Zealand’s funds management industry up a notch in the latest Morningstar ‘Global Fund Investor Experience’ report. Produced biennially since 2009, the Morningstar study, which rates the funds industry in 25 countries across four qualitative categories, awarded NZ a C+ in the 2015 report… [Read More…]

Vanguard has gazumped MSCI and FTSE/Russell by moving to directly include China A shares in its emerging markets ETF products and strategies. The two index companies vacillated in their latest deliberations. The news from Vanguard, which is not known for aggressive marketing positions with new products or strategies, offers nimble investors a prime opportunity to… [Read More…]

BlackRock has recruited an Australian-born finance professor at New York’s Columbia University, Andrew Ang, to head up a new global strategy group focused on smart beta strategies. Ang will oversee, initially, about US$125 billion in assets. The group will focus on systematic factor-based investing, most commonly referred to as smart beta, which is the fastest… [Read More…]

Two big names in global custody are moving on, it was announced last week – State Street’s, who is to retire later this year, and HSBC’s global sub-custody boss, Colin Brooks, who has left the bank. Antonellis, 60, is currently the group’s vice chair and head of global services and global markets for State Street’s… [Read More…]

Any prospective replacement system for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) financial instrument back-office clearing service, NZClear, would have to be domiciled locally, sale documents show. According to the RBNZ expressions of interest form, the dual financial regulators – the central bank and the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – would require “adequate regulatory influence… [Read More…]

Morningstar has downsized its New Zealand operations, shifting sales and local stock research duties to the Sydney headquarters. Following the shake-up, only data specialist Greg Bunkall, and Elliot Smith, fund research analyst, have been guaranteed roles in Morningstar’s to-be-relocated Auckland office. A Morningstar spokesperson said Stuart Auld, head of sales in NZ since 2010, “will… [Read More…]

The Aon KiwiSaver scheme has dropped Milford Asset Management from its default option and as the ‘alternative’ manager in another ANZ-managed fund. According to the latest Aon KiwiSaver prospectus, the scheme’s default option – which picks up all members who have joined the scheme but not made an investment choice – will now feed 100… [Read More…]

The $33 billion Accident Compensation Commission (ACC) investment fund is preparing to scale up its exposure to unlisted assets after hiring investment banker, Carl Blanchard, in a newly-created role. Blanchard, who resigned from an investment banking position at broking house First NZ Capital last week, will join the ACC fund in the next two months… [Read More…]