Investment News

The embattled ASX-listed AMP has confirmed chief executive Francesco De Ferrari will exit the business with ANZ deputy chief, Alexis George, to step in as replacement in the third quarter of this year. In a statement, AMP says De Ferrari would “continue to lead AMP during the interim period and ensure a smooth handover to… [Read More…]

The Ralph Stewart-founded Lifetime Retirement group has launched a new fund that offers retirees regular income but without the previous insured component. Lifetime closed its ‘variable annuity’ fund, launched in 2015, to new investment on Christmas day last year with about $137 million under management. Existing investors will be offered the option of transitioning to… [Read More…]

Ana-Marie Lockyer is stepping up to chair the Pie Funds board following the resignation of incumbent, Steven Nichols. Nichols completes an eight-year stint with the boutique board, which is on the cusp of $2 billion funds under management, according to chief, Mike Taylor. Taylor said Pie probably wouldn’t replenish the board in the short term…. [Read More…]

The entity formerly known as the NZ Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) has been pulled up for past shoddy disclosure practices, poor oversight of spending and “workplace culture” issues in the latest annual parliamentary review of the government-owned organisation. Rebranded as NZ Growth Capital Partners (NZGCP), the state-controlled venture investment outfit now runs two vehicles: the… [Read More…]

It may be intuitive but there is now evidence that investors with more testosterone and those who drive flashy sports cars tend to produce lower returns over time. They take too much risk. We have Yan Lu, an American academic, to largely thank for those observational gems. From a position at the University of Central… [Read More…]

NZ inflation risks err on the upside despite a complex, and contradictory, set of background circumstances, Harbour Asset Management leaders told a roadshow crowd last week. Hamish Pepper, Harbour fixed income and currency strategist, said overall the prospect of inflation exceeding expectations was “higher rather than lower”. “There is complacency in the market,” Pepper said…. [Read More…]

Governments will have to rely on ‘financial repression’ to deleverage economies as the world heads into the third major debt cycle of the post-industrial era, according to Samy Muaddi, T Rowe Price fixed income portfolio manager. In a webinar for NZ and Australian investors last week, Muaddi said in-hock governments have only two choices (barring… [Read More…]

The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has split implementation and factor index construction under its mandate announced last year with Dutch investment powerhouse, Robeco. As reported last February, the NZS hired Robeco to run a multi-factor global equity portfolio following a revamp of its strategy. But in an unusual arrangement, the NZS appointed the Rotterdam-headquartered to… [Read More…]

Climate change is an investment problem that needs active management rather than index-based solutions, according to Aviva Investors Australasia head, Brett Jackson. Jackson said passive investment styles fail to address the complex real climate change challenges that require engagement with companies, regulators and governments. “People are starting to realise that we can only help companies… [Read More…]

A new streamlined approach to supporting ‘fintech’ and other potentially innovative start-ups through regulatory hurdles is already paying dividends. Binu Paul, Financial Markets Authority (FMA) fintech specialist lead, said since launching the cross-agency strategy earlier this month two parties have engaged with a multi-regulator panel with five others queued up. Under the process, fintech regulatory… [Read More…]

AMP has issued a brief denial of reports that Francesco De Ferrari, the fix-it man brought in to repair the brand-damaged firm two years ago, resigned from the much-depleted ASX-listed financial services firm,. “AMP notes the media reports today [March 25],” the release says, “and confirms that Francesco De Ferrari remains as Chief Executive Officer… [Read More…]

Alvarium Wealth will manage over $500 million following a corporate makeover last week that brings all Pathfinder funds and assets of the former NZAM group under a single umbrella. The deal will see Pathfinder folded into Alvarium Wealth, a joint venture between UK private investment firm Alvarium (previously known as LJ Partnership) and NZ investors… [Read More…]

Over 120 advisers squeezed through the gap in the dying days of the now-defunct advisory legal regime, according to new data published by the Financial Services Providers Register (FSPR). The figures show 122 individuals were accredited as registered financial advisers (RFAs) in the two weeks prior to March 15 when the FSPR was closed for… [Read More…]

The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has won a landmark court case that could set a high bar for activist legal challenges to its investment decisions. In the ruling handed down in the Auckland High Court last week, Justice Woolford dismissed the move by Fadel Mohamed and M Barton to foist a judicial review on the… [Read More…]

The former head of sustainable investing for the world’s largest fund manager has labeled the approach as futile, calling government action the only remedy to climate change. In an article penned for USA Today, Tariq Fancy, the former BlackRock chief investment officer for sustainable investing, said the financial services industry is “duping the American public… [Read More…]

Global consulting firm Willis Towers Watson is to review the $4.2 billion Government Superannuation Fund (GSF), reprising a role it filled for the country’s largest sovereign wealth fund in 2019. In a release last week, NZ Treasury confirmed WTW would carry out the five-yearly GSF statutory review with a final report due in mid-May. WTW… [Read More…]

Most NZ community-based ‘foundation’ funds remain confident of hitting return targets in spite of looming market risks and entrenched low yields, according to the latest Mercer survey of the sector. The Mercer NZ ‘Endowments and foundations survey’ 2020 – the seventh in the annual series – found only 10 per cent of respondents had lowered… [Read More…]

The IFAA Group has seen almost immediate success with new business from several sources, notwithstanding its recent acquisition by Auckland-based administration and consulting firm MMC. Neil Harvey, IFAA Group’s managing director, said last week that recent wins for the group were the reappointment late last year as fund administrator for Gardior and a new appointment… [Read More…]

The shift in investor preference for passive over active funds continued in the last two years, but Australian investors were more resistant to the global trend, according to research from Calastone. Calastone’s latest report, ‘Tidal Forces – Can Active Funds Fight the Passive Flows?’, compiled from analysis of fund transactions across its network during the last… [Read More…]

In a surprisingly lively debate parliament cleared the way last week for a new set of rules governing the NZ financial ‘plumbing’ system. The Financial Market Infrastructures (FMI) bill passed its second reading last Tuesday with all parties endorsing the much-amended proposed legislation. Created to comply with International Monetary Fund (IMF) standards, the FMI will… [Read More…]