Boutique asset consultancy firm, Makao Investments, has launched a new online tool enabling wholesale investors to create a key governance document free-of-charge. Based on document-making software used in the legal profession, the Makao system walks investors through a rigorous process to build a draft statement of investment policy and objectives (SIPO) tailored to individual organisation… [Read More…]
Investment News
Survey finds demand outweighs ethical outperformance doubts
Less than half of New Zealanders expect responsible investments to outperform, according to a new survey, but that hasn’t dampened cross-generational demand for products playing to the theme. The Responsible Investment Association of Australasia survey, carried out in partnership with Mindful Money, found that for just “40% of the [NZ] population, investing responsibly makes financial… [Read More…]
Harbour ranks REITs over rates
Listed property is well-positioned to withstand a rising rates environment despite a potential short-term hit to returns, Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager, Shane Solly, argues in a new paper. Solly says historical data suggests while real estate investment trust (REIT) returns may fall as interest rates begin to rise, the sector tends “to perform better… [Read More…]
Magellan goes cold on China as volatility reshapes portfolio
Magellan has abandoned its long-standing Chinese positions and cast a keen eye over financials as it attempts to weather an environment of more persistent inflation. The manager has remained in the headlines on a near daily basis, with continued uncertainty around the return of CIO and founder Hamish Douglass, who took medical leave in early… [Read More…]
Return to active: MFS questions passive approach to retirement funds
Active management will be increasingly important for defined contribution (DC) retirement savings schemes as value-for-fees, expected lower future returns and sustainable investment preferences come to the fore, according to a new MFS white paper. The analysis says the rising exposure to index investments to DC schemes, such as KiwiSaver funds, has been built on at… [Read More…]
Different time, same story: why inflation isn’t novel
The once-forgotten inflation story has now morphed into a fear-based page-turner, spiced up by intertwined psychological and financial factors, according to Pascal Blanqué, Amundi Institute chair. In a just-released discussion published by the French investment giant, Blanqué says the public response to inflation has rapidly gone from ignorance to denial to surprise to acknowledgement “Now… [Read More…]
RBNZ promises privacy key in digital money future
New Zealanders rank concerns privacy and autonomy as the top threats posed by a prospective central bank digital currency (CBDC). In a summary of feedback on a series of three ‘future of money’ consultation papers released last week, the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) notes both general public and financial institutions held fears of CBDC… [Read More…]
Sovereign wealth funds ditch EM in risk re-think
The appetite for risk assets is turning negative, and the world’s largest investors are scurrying away from emerging market equities and debt amidst a rising tide of woe. Few would have predicted that the initial Covid market crash – in which it was determined, once and for all, that the windows on Wall Street don’t… [Read More…]
Defaults falter in downbeat March quarter
New higher risk settings have played against default KiwiSaver members during the first quarter of 2022, according to the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) figures. The MJW investment quarterly survey released last week shows all of the six newly established default balanced funds were down by at least 5 per cent for the three months… [Read More…]
Retail flows see glass half-full for Milford, empty at AMP
Usual suspects Milford Asset Management and AMP bookended the retail fund spectrum last year, according to the latest Plan for Life (PFL) figures, with a more than 50 per cent gap between annual growth-rates of the two firms. Continuing its extraordinary multi-year run, Milford grew funds under management by over 51 per cent during 2021… [Read More…]