Former Kiwi Wealth chief customer officer, Joe Bishop, has returned to the industry after a brief hiatus with a new role at TSB Bank as general manager product and marketing. Bishop resigned as chief executive of Police and Families Credit Union (PFCU) in September, ending an 18-month stint at the Wellington-based organisation. Previously, he served… [Read More…]
Investment News
Showtime at Kiwi Wealth
Kiwi Wealth has dropped the act, confirming Rhiannon McKinnon in the lead role last week just as the $9.3 billion manager cued-up its new default KiwiSaver scheme for release. Celebrated in the same press statement, the two events are likely related: McKinnon was named ‘acting’ Kiwi Wealth chief executive this February, amid a frantic effort… [Read More…]
End of eras as Guardian sale stamped, Sewell exits
Guardian Trust, one of the big three NZ licensed supervisors, has officially moved to foreign ownership after regulators approved its sale to an Asian conglomerate in October. The Hong Kong-based Tricor bought the Guardian Trust business (including subsidiary firm Covenant Trust) in July this year from the Andrew Barnes-controlled Complectus, pending sign-off from the Overseas… [Read More…]
Deep green and anti-grey: Harbour adds colour with new impact fund
Harbour has tapped into ‘deep green’ French-founded manager, Mirova, to run global equities in its just-launched multi-asset Sustainable Impact Fund. The Paris-headquartered Mirova shares the international equities portfolio duties with existing Harbour partner, T Rowe Price, for the new impact-style strategy. Specialising in sustainable investment strategies, Mirova has about US$28 billion under management globally, including… [Read More…]
Clock ticks on T+1 for US markets leaving Australasia out of time
Australasia-based investors might end up out of synch with North American markets after a landmark agreement by US and Canadian securities industries to cut settlement times in half by mid-2024. Under the plan released last week both US and Canadian markets will move to a one-day settlement model from the current system that allows participants… [Read More…]
Actuaries back standard decumulation data, mandated KiwiSaver retirement income models
The NZ Society of Actuaries (NZSA) has called for a national single source of statistical truth to back all retirement income claims along with uniform wording on decumulation strategies in KiwiSaver documents. In a new paper published last month, a group of retirement income specialists in the peak actuarial body argue the current fragmented approach… [Read More…]
Cheaters never prosper – but active managers do
When it comes to the question of who’s actually doing the research work, investors know the answer. And they don’t feel like sitting on the sidelines during a crisis. Some trends you can see from space. Inflows into ESG equity funds on the Calastone network between January and November were US$30 billion – 60 per… [Read More…]
ForBar reopens fund business as broad-based boutique
Forsyth Barr has spun out its funds management business into a new stand-alone operation, initially targeting the wholesale market. Launched today under the Octagon Asset Management brand, the new Forsyth Barr-owned fund shop opens with $650 million of in-house money, including the group’s Summer KiwiSaver scheme. Paul Robertshawe, Octagon chief investment officer, said the manager… [Read More…]
Default transfer numbers to fall at low end of scale…
The KiwiSaver default migration due to start this week looks likely to fall well short of early estimates as incumbent providers report higher-than-expected member retention rates. Based on data and feedback from most outgoing default schemes, the final transfer numbers should be in the order of 215,000 members and $2 billion. The Ministry of Business,… [Read More…]
… as passive creeps into KiwiSaver menus
Kiwi Wealth has finalised its indexed-style default KiwiSaver fund arrangements, outsourcing most investment duties to Northern Trust Asset Management and BlackRock. A spokesperson said Kiwi Wealth had hired the quantitative specialist Northern Trust to implement its default fund global equities strategy while investing in an “off-the-shelf” BlackRock vehicle for international fixed income. The government-owned KiwiSaver… [Read More…]