Investment News

Mercer has set the tone for the imminent KiwiSaver default scheme beauty parade, slimming down fees and embarking on an ambitious sustainable investment makeover. Following the changes implemented last week, Mercer KiwiSaver default fund fees fell almost 20 per cent along while the manager also laid out plans to bolster the product’s responsible investment (RI)… [Read More…]

Engagement has supplanted exclusion as the most popular NZ responsible investment (RI) strategy for the first time, according to the latest annual review of the sector. The Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIIA) 2020 ‘Benchmark report’ for NZ found than environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration topped negative screening as the most influential factor in… [Read More…]

Pie Funds has begun the hunt for a chief operating officer (COO) to replace the outgoing incumbent, Paul Gregory. Gregory will begin a second stint at the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) this November in the newly created senior ranking investment director role. According to the Pie recruitment campaign, the COO “is very much the 2IC… [Read More…]

Auckland-based fund administration business MMC completed a two-year shift to the cloud last week with its core systems joining Aegis services on the Microsoft Azure platform. Vedran Babic, MMC chief, said the cloud move would provide resilience, flexibility and scalability for the business, which grew substantially following the purchase of the Aegis platform from ASB… [Read More…]

The NZ equities trading platform space could become more crowded later this year with a new provider considering a tilt at the action. Selwyn Loekman, BlackBull Markets director of operations, said the newly licensed Auckland-based derivatives trader planned to launch a direct equities platform later this year. “We hope to offer direct equities and equities… [Read More…]

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) fund was hit up by about a dozen contenders within hours of floating its new $50 million ‘impact’ investment concept. George Adams, consulting to the new ACC impact venture, said the official launch last week had clearly “shaken the tree” with 12 or so companies contacting the fund on the… [Read More…]

CheckRisk, the UK-based global risk manager and information provider, has taken the big step of offering financial institutions a free risk appraisal of their banking counterparties. The firm, which helped clients through the GFC in 2008, believe most institutions and big investors were “blissfully unaware” of the nature of counterparty risks until then. Nick Bullman,… [Read More…]

As Australian institutions limp away from the wealth management battlefield, Scott Alman*, Consilium head, explains why KiwiSaver investors remain exposed to the vertically integrated weak point highlighted across the Tasman – lack of independent advice…   It was with great interest that I read the Australian Financial Review August 30 headline “IOOF to buy NAB’s… [Read More…]

The two major Australasian retail fund rating firms, Zenith and Morningstar, have taken a different tack on AMP Capital following a wave of resignations and a potential break-up of the 171-year old parent company. In a release last week, Zenith Investment Partners placed AMP Capital funds ‘under review’ citing “corporate instability” as having “the potential… [Read More…]

There aren’t too many things you could buy in the investment world, be they businesses or hard assets, that will fall in value by nearly three-quarters over a period of more than 20 years. But NAB’s sale of MLC to IOOF reflects one. With some related transactions, such as buying the AVIVA platform and insurance… [Read More…]

FNZ and Australian-based financial software firm GBST are at odds on how to resolve a looming UK regulatory ruling that could scupper their planned merger. Last month the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) handed down a provisional recommendation that would compel FNZ to offload the former ASX-listed business it bought for more than $260… [Read More…]

When we speak of factors in the institutional investment world, we tend to think about equities investing. But fixed income and credit investing also have their factors. There are just not as many of them. Importantly, though, they can still be a “free lunch” for investors, according to Mellon’s Paul Benson. Benson is the head… [Read More…]

The NZ managed funds market grew more than 7.3 per cent in the June quarter to reach about $210 billion, according to new Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) figures. In dollar terms, the June quarter added some $14.3 billion to total NZ funds under management (FUM) in the RBNZ survey, which excludes the $100 billion… [Read More…]

Kiwi Invest has called for mandatory disclosure of investment exclusions and proxy voting records for all managers marketing products under environmental, social and governance (ESG) – or like – banners. In a release, Steffan Berridge, Kiwi Invest quantitative and responsible investments strategist, said compulsory disclosure of actual ESG-related activity could shine a light on the… [Read More…]

The Investment Services Group (ISG) new Māori values-based fund subsidiary, Tahito, has named Angela Busby as chair. Busby, AIA NZ chief strategy officer, is one of the leading Māori women in finance, according to Tahito founder, Temuera Hall. Prior to joining AIA, she served as head of ASB Securities and the-then bank-owned investment platform Aegis…. [Read More…]

Maybe it’s not breaking news but a Mercer NZ survey has found women tend to be more responsible than men, in their KiwiSaver preferences at least. According to the new Mercer KiwiSaver sentiment study, almost 80 per cent of women rated access to responsible investment as important when selecting a scheme compared to 69 per… [Read More…]

Start-up funders have debunked recent NZ government claims that the local angel investor market has fallen into limbo. While a Ministry of Economic Development (MED) review of the local venture capital earlier this year reported “a decline in angel/seed private capital activity”, a newsletter covering the sector notes only a slight slow-down year-on-year. The ‘Evangelist’… [Read More…]

AMP is considering selling all, or some, of its assets, the ASX-listed business confirmed this morning. In a market release, AMP says the company has seen a surge in “unsolicited interest in its assets and businesses”. “The Board has therefore decided to undertake a portfolio review to assess all opportunities in a considered and holistic… [Read More…]

Vanguard has launched a new scrubbed-clean Australian equities fund seeded by NZ passive investment shop, Simplicity. Andrew Lance, Simplicity chief operating officer, said the manager had tipped in about $100 million to the new Vanguard Australian shares fund that – due to an extreme screen-and-rebalance process – falls outside the global investment giant’s definition of… [Read More…]

More regulatory guidance and a stern talking-to for a few KiwiSaver providers are in the offing as the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) digests the findings of its just-published ‘value for money’ report on the sector. Liam Mason, FMA director regulation, said the new report – ostensibly a review of active and passive investment among KiwiSaver… [Read More…]