David Chaplin

The BNZ investment business will operate as a division of Harbour Asset Management once the FirstCape deal closes this week, according to disclosure documents for the group’s inaugural product rollover under the new structure. Documents for the restated BNZ Term PIE reveal the BNZ Investment Services arm, which manages the bank’s KiwiSaver and other funds,… [Read More…]

Surging global share markets boosted returns for NZ investors during the first three months of 2024 with the vast majority of international equities managers in the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) survey racking up double-digit returns for the period. While fixed income, local shares and other asset classes delivered flat-to-middling results for the March quarter,… [Read More…]

KiwiSaver withdrawals hit an eight-year high this March as resurgent first-home drawdowns and record financial hardship exits saw providers pay-out almost $173 million. According to the latest Inland Revenue Department (IRD) statistics, the March 2024 first home/financial hardship withdrawal figure exceeds the previous peak of close to $172 million set in the same month three… [Read More…]

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has garnered mixed reviews for its new fund manager liquidity guide from a feedback group of just 12. In general, the FMA notes the submissions on the draft fund liquidity guidance published late last year fell under three areas of concern: clarity, certainty and implementability. “Some submitters sought word changes… [Read More…]

Māori values-based Australasian equities manager, Tahito, has landed an out-of-the-blue mandate from a US philanthropic fund. The US$500 million Christensen Fund, which backs indigenous people causes around the world, awarded Tahito an undisclosed allocation via implemented consulting service, Global Endowment Management (GEM). Following a prompt from the Christensen group, GEM “managed to locate” Tahito, according… [Read More…]

FNZ has settled an acrimonious legal dispute with former leaders of its recently purchased US business, YieldX. In a filing with a New York district court early in April, FNZ “voluntarily dismisses this proceeding without prejudice” against YieldX founders, Adam Green and Shlomo Gross. The global platform provider sued Green and Gross at the beginning… [Read More…]

First Sentier’s decision to close a number of strategies and pivot towards private markets handily illustrates the pressures facing the Australian funds management scene – and the new period of competition into which it is now entering. The circa A$238 billion First Sentier will close four strategies and hand back A$14 billion to investors in… [Read More…]

The yet-to-be-fully-formed FirstCape has emerged as a potential buyer of a stake in Fisher Funds, according to press across the Tasman. National news publication, The Australian, reported earlier this month that the “newly merged JB Were and Jarden wealth manager backed by Pacific Equity Partners [PEP] is understood to have thrown its hat in the… [Read More…]

AMP has reported modest growth in NZ funds under management during the March quarter with investment markets doing the heavy-rowing. According to an AMP market update released last week, the NZ group saw net outflows (including newly categorised ‘pension payments’) of almost A$40 million over the first three months of 2024 across its KiwiSaver, superannuation… [Read More…]

Louise Unger is set to join the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) in June as permanent replacement for Paul Gregory, former executive director response and enforcement. Gregory resigned last December to take up a newly created role as head of investment partnerships for the ANZ NZ funds management shop. FMA general counsel and head of evaluation… [Read More…]