Investment News

Global research house, Morningstar, has prepped investors for disappointment amid a ‘thematic’ fund boom. In a new report on the sector, the researcher notes that while thematic funds have experienced record growth in recent years as well as outperformance, history suggests the good times won’t last for long. “Over the past 15 years, more than… [Read More…]

Monthly bond fund flows turned negative across the Tasman for the first time in two years during a mainly risk-off quarter, according to new Calastone data. The Calastone quarterly gauge found Australian investors put just A$60 million into fixed income funds overall in the first three months of this year with A$173 million of outflows… [Read More…]

FNZ has hooked up with the German stock exchange-owned investment back-office service provider, Clearstream, to build a new trans-Europe fund hub. Under a ‘strategic partnership’ inked last week, FNZ and Clearstream will offer UK and European fund managers the “global and regional intelligence they require to analyse market trends, better understand behaviour, improve decision making… [Read More…]

A “dramatic and sobering” first quarter has seen institutions re-think everything from ESG to hedge funds as the job of investing becomes harder in a more dangerous world. Recent surveys of global institutions have unearthed an increasingly gloomy outlook from our biggest investors as they scrutinise the new inflation paradigm and a more multi-polar geopolitical… [Read More…]

Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS) has confirmed it is working with corporate advisory business Clare Capital to source a strategic partner for its subsidiary direct-to-consumer platform, InvestNow. It is understood the Wellington-based niche investment banking firm is currently seeking expressions of interest from both local and offshore businesses to back the fast-growing investment platform. As reported last… [Read More…]

Newly launched NZ diversified financial services group, Amplifi, has named former ANZ senior executive, Fred Ohlsson, to head the organisation. Most recently ANZ Australia division group executive, Ohlsson, takes on the Amplifi managing director role as the firm embarks on a strategy to acquire a suite of high-quality NZ financial services businesses across the advisory… [Read More…]

Digital-first investment firm, Kernel, has set a May go-live date for its just-established KiwiSaver scheme, joining an increasingly crowded space of niche start-ups in the sector. Founded only three years ago, Kernel’s move into KiwiSaver coincides with substantial across-the-board fee cuts and the launch of two new funds to bring its product suite up to… [Read More…]

The Australian financial system prudential regulator is drafting digital asset guidelines for the industry that will likely influence policy and practice this side of the Tasman. In a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce last week, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) chair, Wayne Byres, flagged the release of new guidance for the financial industry… [Read More…]

Over 5 per cent of KiwiSaver members are remaining in-scheme post the official retirement age, according to a new analysis by consultancy firm Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW). The MJW study prepared for the Retirement Commission found about “153,000 members (5.2%) are aged over 65, and appear to be using KiwiSaver as an investment vehicle in… [Read More…]

Regulators won’t be able to scrub out environmental, social and governance (ESG) ‘greenwashing’ in the investment industry, according to influential US finance academic, Aswath Damodaran. In a blistering attack on the ESG investing sector last month, Damodaran says greenwashing – or falsely marketing funds as sustainable (or the like) – is an indelible feature of… [Read More…]