Investment News

The Retirement Commission (RC) has left KiwiSaver mostly alone in its latest triennial report… on government orders. Jane Wrightson, Retirement Commission, says in the just-released statutory report on the sector that the now almost $90 billion savings regime was largely off-limits in the 2022 sector review. “We have not been asked to focus as heavily… [Read More…]

As the world’s top 100 asset managers grow to awesome size, they’re confronted by a “complex and uncertain” macro environment and need to prepare for the burgeoning systemic risks of climate change. The world’s top 100 largest asset owners – a group that includes pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, foundations and endowments, and outsourced… [Read More…]

Stewardship, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, “first appeared in English during the Middle Ages, it functioned as a job description, denoting the office of a steward, or manager of a large household”. “Over the centuries, its range of reference spread to the oversight of law courts, employee unions, college dining halls, Masonic lodges, and… [Read More…]

While hopes of a ‘soft landing’ abound, global pension funds are a little more cynical. A stagflationary environment is not just possible, but likely, and hedging against it will be a herculean task. “Extreme pragmatism” will guide asset allocation as pension funds prepare for a stagflationary environment, according to a survey of 152 global pension… [Read More…]

NZX is understood to be shopping around its Wealth Technologies investment platform following a flurry of activity in the sector. Over the last 12 months or so the local investment administration market has seen several businesses change hands including Hatch, MMC and Implemented Investment Solutions. In a statement, Simon Beattie, NZX head of investor relations… [Read More…]

Good financial advice has left client portfolios better off by at least 4.3 per cent this year, according to the latest Russell Investments annual estimate. The local 2022 edition of the long-running Russell ‘Value of an adviser’ series, says asset allocation advice and behavioural coaching added 1.4 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively, as… [Read More…]

Several NZ clients of NAB Asset Servicing (NAS) will be looking for a new global custody partner after the bank-owned business confirmed a staged exit from the sector earlier this month. Notably, NAS has global custody arrangements with the former MMC operations, now known as Apex NZ, and Milford Asset Management. As reported by Australian… [Read More…]

NZ carbon credits will be treated as ‘financial products’ under new government proposals unveiled last week, bringing traders, advisers and market operators into a tighter regulatory regime. In the just-released consultation document, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) recommends corralling the NZ carbon trading system into the Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMC) as a safeguard against… [Read More…]

The US financial regulator has fined big-shot investment firm Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) US$4 million as the anti-greenwashing campaign gathers pace. In a release last week, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) pinged GSAM for shoddy environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in two funds and a separate account over 2017 to 2020. According to… [Read More…]

National financial advisory network, Wealthpoint, has picked up the prestigious ‘Emerging Business of the Year’ prize at the NZ co-operative industry body awards last week. According to a release, the Co-operative Business NZ award judges cited “both the breadth and complexity” of the Wealthpoint member services, which have expanded in recent years. Wealthpoint emerged out… [Read More…]