Consilium has released in its new KiwiSaver scheme investment line-up with most well-known local managers (bar bank-based operators) granted access alongside an extensive list of offshore managers, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and direct securities. The cache of scheme documents published last Friday show NZ-based managers including AMP Capital, Castle Point, Clarity, Devon, Fisher, Harbour, Hunter, Kernel,… [Read More…]
Investment News
Government to set eyes on PIEs as tax hike bites
Portfolio investment entity (PIE) tax settings could be up for review this year as the Inland Revenue Department considers ‘integrity measures’ to safeguard the recent rate hike for high-income earners. Under the measure introduced by the Labour government last December, the top tax rate for those earning over $180,000 each year will rise from 33… [Read More…]
Venture fund hires short-term chief, refits board
The government-owned venture investment outfit now known as NZ Growth Capital Partners (NZGCP) has rinsed out the board and appointed a new interim chief following a fraught HR period in 2020. Last week NZGCP named James Fletcher, part of the famed NZ construction family and most recently head of Treescape Australasia, as chief executive while… [Read More…]
MJW finds KiwiSaver manager choice matters more at riskier end…
Return dispersion among KiwiSaver funds has increased in line with risk exposure over the last 10 years, the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) investment survey found. According to the MJW December 2020 quarter survey, investment returns for conservative-to-moderate funds remained “tightly clustered” for the 10-year period with a much wider performance spread for those further… [Read More…]
… as weight gain spread among mid-level schemes
A gang of four mid-tier KiwiSaver providers remain clustered in a range of about $300 million in the September quarter as market trends held steady, according to the latest data from Australian research house Plan for Life (PFL). The PFL figures plot a narrow gap between the 11th ranked (and still fastest-growing) Generate and eighth-largest… [Read More…]
NZX admin unit confirms old client for new platform
Public Trust has stuck with the NZX-owned investment platform business as the administrative home for about $700 million of client funds. But in the deal confirmed last week, Public Trust will transfer from the NZX ‘legacy’ platform to the group’s new-fangled investment technology. The government-owned Public Trust was an early client of the Apteryx platform,… [Read More…]
NZ Super adjusts dials on reference portfolio as risk-return gauge edges up
The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has slightly lifted both long-term outperformance and risk expectations in its latest ‘reference portfolio’ review while removing an explicit emerging markets benchmark from the process. Following the five-yearly refresh of reference portfolio assumptions in 2020, the NZS raised its forecast cash outperformance to 2.8 per cent – or just 0.1… [Read More…]
State Street wins Perpetual custody job
After a review which took just over a year, State Street has been awarded the challenging asset servicing task of transitioning Perpetual Investment Management’s Australian funds management business. The ultimate prize may be to also take on the bigger asset base from the Perpetual group’s new US fund management subsidiaries. The announcement last week (January… [Read More…]
New future-facing FAP compliance firm fronts up
A new financial advice provider (FAP) compliance firm is pitching a “culture changing product” as the industry braces for imminent regime change. In a release, VeritasHQ says its offering includes “service quality assurance monitoring and forward looking data analytics” to provide long-term support to FAPs under the Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act (FSLAA). The FSLAA… [Read More…]
How to fit ESG processes into UN’s sustainability goals
While most investment managers have worked hard at incorporating ESG philosophies into their investment processes in recent years, under the overarching aim of sustainability, marrying the practicalities with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is not as simple as it may seem. Martin Currie, a long-time advocate of the integration of ESG principles within… [Read More…]