Investment News

Global investment managers remain in recruitment mode for environmental, social and governance (ESG) staff despite a growing political kickback against the process in the US. The 10th annual Russell Investments fund manager survey found while the “hiring boom for ESG professionals has slowed”, most of the 225 firms polled were still hiring-up for specialists in… [Read More…]

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been panned as ‘incompetent’ and ‘defective’ in a damning report tabled by a cross-parliament committee last week that calls for sweeping changes in the regulator. After sifting through evidence from 174 submissions, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Investment Fraud & Fairer Financial Services found the FCA was… [Read More…]

Liquidity-soaked bond and share traders have never had it so good but apparent still waters obscure the growing risk of destructive rogue waves, a new academic paper suggests. The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) study found bid-ask spreads in various asset classes have narrowed consistently over time, implying improved liquidity and trading conditions. But the… [Read More…]

The NZX funds management arm is in the final stages of offloading its UK pension transfer scheme. According to a NZX spokesperson, the Smart funds group is “in exclusive negotiations with one party” to sell the roughly $120 million SuperLife UK pension fund. “Smart has been refining our business strategy, focusing on our core role… [Read More…]

Betashares has launched its seventh NZ-domiciled fund, offering exposure to the local market but with a trans-Tasman twist. The NZ Sustainability Leaders Fund follows an underlying index built by German benchmark specialist, Solactive, that “holds companies either listed on NZX or companies headquartered in NZ but listed on the ASX”. For example, the ASX Kiwi… [Read More…]

Former Smartshares head of institutional, Thom Bentley, is back in the saddle at the NZX-owned funds management group now known as Smart. Bentley returned to the stock exchange funds subsidiary last week as head of business development, covering a wider brief than his previous almost three-year stint ending in April 2021 that focused on institutions…. [Read More…]

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has mooted a series of ‘good practice’ measures for regulators to combat increasing risks posed by unlicensed online financial spruikers. In a new consultation, IOSCO notes the global trend of self-appointed financial experts dispensing advice via social media in particular is “transforming how retail investors, particularly younger generations,… [Read More…]

In a move that resonates on this side of the Tasman amid political musings about preferred NZ Superannuation Fund investments, the Australian government has issued a new directive to its Future Fund. Investor Strategy News editor, Lachlan Maddock, ponders the impact of a worrisome mission creep… The Albanese Government’s tweaks to the Future Fund’s mandate… [Read More…]

JP Morgan Asset Management has forecast a solid future for the classic 60/40 portfolio in its 2025 Long-term Capital Markets Assumptions (LTCMA) report that debuts a NZ-dollar performance estimate. The LTCMA paper says a 60/40 blend of shares and equities is expected to return 6.4 per cent over the next 15 years in US currency… [Read More…]

Storied US-based hedge fund, Bridgewater, is to join the active exchange-traded fund (ETF) herd in a deal inked with State Street Global Advisors last week. Under the agreement, State Street will front an ETF version of the Bridgewater ‘All Weather’ strategy in a first for the world’s largest hedge fund founded by Ray Dalio. The… [Read More…]