Pinnacle Investment Management will establish an offshore distribution capability following the addition to its line-up of the latest high-profile boutique, Jacob Mitchell’s Antipodes Partners, a global equities and Asian equities manager based in Sydney. Mitchell started his new business last week, with six colleagues and about $200 million under management, inherited, thanks to Pinnacle, through… [Read More…]
GMO cites valuation as top investment risk
All assets except for cash would fall in price if markets return to fair value, according to a new paper published by US-based fund manager, GMO. In the ‘Derisking goes beyond interest rate risk’ report, author Catherine LeGraw suggests institutional investors have underestimated “valuation risk” in their portfolios. “We believe that the biggest risk is… [Read More…]
Australian fund trustee regulation starting to irk, survey finds
Australian super fund trustees and executives appear to be getting a bit stroppy about the amount of regulation by which they are governed, which, they mostly believe, will become more onerous over the next 10 years, according to a survey conducted jointly by Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and custodian BNP Paribas Securities Services. The… [Read More…]
Salt shakes out on top for $600m AMP mandate
Salt Funds Management has won the reasonably-coveted $600 million AMP Capital New Zealand equities mandate. Following the deal, Salt, spun out of BT Funds Management in 2013, will have funds under management of about $1.3 billion. While the AMP mandate is one of, if not the, biggest New Zealand equities contract put to market, it… [Read More…]
Trustees Executors sale hits price roadblock
The proposed sale of Trustees Executors (TE) has reached stalemate, according to sources close to the deal. As reported in Australian press in January, UBS put TE out for second-round bids on February 5 with at least three prospective buyers lined up: listed Australian trustee firm, Equity Trustees (EQT); Link Market Services; and, diversified Australian… [Read More…]
FANZ/Staples Rodway to share $800m in assets under management
The joint venture between SBS subsidiary, Funds Administration New Zealand (FANZ), and Staples Rodway Asset Management (SRAM) will create a collective investment pool of $800 million, according to FANZ chief, Graham Duston. Under the deal announced last week, FANZ will take a 50 per cent share in SRAM, the investment management arm of accounting firm… [Read More…]
ForBar funds divisions unite
Forsyth Barr has amalgamated its KiwiSaver and funds management units under a single banner, introducing a raft of other changes in the process. As at February 27 this year the two businesses merged to form Forsyth Barr Investment Management (FBIM), which is responsible for the group’s six pooled unit trusts. Last year, the firm shut… [Read More…]
Historic meeting of Thinking Ahead Institute
The Towers Watson-sponsored Thinking Ahead Institute, launched last year and currently supported by 30 fiduciary investors and fund management groups, has completed a draft of its first research paper, ambitiously entitled ‘The State of the Industry’. When the final version is published to the industry as a whole this year, it is likely to make… [Read More…]
Australian funds to get zero-rated PIE equivalent
The Australian funds management industry will be on level-pegging tax-wise with New Zealand under Australian Treasury proposals published last week. Currently, offshore investors – either through a widely-held foreign-domiciled fund or a locally-based fund – may be subject to Australian tax. However, under part three of the Investment Management Regime (IMR) proposals – due to… [Read More…]
Green light looms for variable annuities
New Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) variable annuity rules are close to sign-off with final responses to an exposure draft due last week. First mooted last September, the RBNZ proposals would amend life insurance solvency standards to allow greater flexibility for variable annuity providers. “The aim of the proposed capital treatment was to ensure… [Read More…]