Investment News

The new BlackRock-managed AMP KiwiSaver index-style diversified funds come with an all-in fee of almost 0.8 per cent, just-filed scheme documents reveal. According to an AMP NZ spokesperson, the switch from AMP Capital to BlackRock as underlying manager for the firm’s diversified funds has seen fees “reduced significantly” while the cost “structure has been simplified… [Read More…]

Kiwi Wealth is set to lose another top executive with the impending departure of product and retail general manager, Melissa Vasta. In a statement, the government-owned financial services group said Vasta would finish her tenure on August 20 after resigning last week. Earlier in July, Kiwi Wealth chief investment officer, Simon O’Grady also handed in… [Read More…]

Milford Asset Management fell just shy of racking up second consecutive quarter of $1 billion growth in retail funds during the three months to March 31, bringing the firm within shouting distance of the country’s fourth-largest manager, AMP. According to the latest figures from Australian research house Plan for Life, Milford added about $970 million… [Read More…]

The market for financial adviser businesses is booming, according to Chatswood Consulting director, Russell Hutchinson, but not for all books. Hutchinson, who also a director of advisory practice broking firm Advicebridge, said there was a surge in buyer-interest in the post Financial Services Legislation Amendment (FSLAA) world. He said year-to-date (FSLAA came into force this… [Read More…]

Simon O’Connor, Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) chief – and now chair of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance – explains why responsible investing must move from rhetoric to reality…   Responsible investment has rapidly risen up the agenda of New Zealand investment and finance markets over the past year. Yet this shift is far from… [Read More…]

The flagged sale of the Complectus-owned Guardian Trust and Covenant licensed supervisory businesses to a Hong Kong-based entity could take “several months” to emerge from the regulatory sign-off process, according to Harry Koprivcic. Koprivcic said the deal, inked with Tricor Group last week, requires Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval, which took up to 180 days… [Read More…]

India is back. Despite suffering one of the worst COVID-infection rates in the world this year as a ‘second wave’ swamped the medical system, the Indian economy has rebounded sharply, according to Mugunthan Siva, head of India Avenue Management. “It’s been a surprise for many global investors how well the Indian economy recovered,” Siva said,… [Read More…]

They are two hot topics of analyses in the investment world. What is not so well known is that the coming round of inflation will likely be exacerbated by ESG strategies. The obvious element to cause a spike in prices in many areas comes from the fight against climate change. But it is not only… [Read More…]

The Supereasy local government superannuation scheme is set to drop AMP Capital from a long-held mandate in August, ending an almost 20-year relationship. Both the Supereasy traditional employer and KiwiSaver schemes will swap out AMP Capital – which managed growth assets for the funds – next month, according to the group’s latest annual accounts. “…… [Read More…]

An independent review has called for a governance and investment process upgrade at the $4.2 billion plus Government Superannuation Fund (GSF). In its five-year statutory review, the Australian arm of global consultancy firm Willis Towers Watson (WTW) found the GSF board and management had been at odds following the fund’s recent run of poor performance…. [Read More…]