The NZ managed funds sector soared through the $300 billion threshold during the September quarter after a solid three-month period lifted annual growth to 14.4 per cent. New Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) data shows the local funds management market topped out at $307.1 billion on September 30 with KiwiSaver accounting for about $122.6 billion,… [Read More…]
Investment News
Sheriffs lodge criminal charges in Western US$600m bond fraud case
US regulators have laid formal fraud charges against former Western Asset Management (WAMCO) co chief investment officer, Ken Leech. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York are pursuing Leech through separate legal channels over sweetheart trading deals at the global fixed income powerhouse during… [Read More…]
Politics, tech, climate put asset owners in new risk territory
Large asset owners will need to develop a new risk management approach amid increasingly fraught political and investment conditions, according to a new Thinking Ahead Institute (TAI) study. The TAI ‘Asset Owner 100’ report says “today’s complex, interconnected risks” such as geopolitical tensions, climate change, inequality and other systemic problems require a more holistic asset… [Read More…]
ESG skills in demand even as backlash bites
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…]
Incompetent, defective, opaque: UK regulator slammed in parliamentary review
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…]
Study finds calm liquidity conditions mask storm-prone markets
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…]
SuperLife UK pension scheme on the block
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 rolls out NZ-origin companies fund; DFA opens global fixed income PIEs; Sharesies releases managed cash fund
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…]
Bentley circles back to Smart; Fisher gives Swan full-time responsibilities; Apex NZ looks for head of risk; JBWere Australia chief exits in NAB makeover
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…]
IOSCO proposes global response to ‘finfluencer’ plague
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…]