Investment News

The old-school NZ superannuation market continued its slow fade-out in the latest financial year with scheme and member numbers as well as assets under management nudging downwards. According to figures released at Financial Services Council (FSC) workshop last week, the total number of restricted schemes – a group including employer, master trust and legacy retail… [Read More…]

Auckland-based boutique manager Pathfinder picked up a top prize at the Sustainable Business Awards (SBA) last week for its recently launched KiwiSaver scheme. Pathfinder won the SBA ‘social impactor’ category – sponsored by the Medical Assurance Society – for the group’s charitable donation strategy established as part of the CareSaver scheme. Launched in July last… [Read More…]

A planned increase in the Australian compulsory superannuation contribution rate to 12 per cent could be scrapped if government follows a key recommendation included in an independent report published last week. According to the Retirement Income Review (RIR) final report, lifting the superannuation guarantee (SG) contribution rate to the target 12 per cent rate would… [Read More…]

Thanks largely to the mega funds of Japan, China and Singapore, the Asia Pacific region heads the world in the concentration of the top 100 fiduciary investment organisations. And these funds are increasingly changing the philosophies and investment styles of all funds. A report published last week by the Thinking Ahead Institute (TAI), the independent… [Read More…]

After a record-breaking four-year run of borrowing the world is on track to grow debt levels by another 30 per cent by the end of this decade, according to a new Institute of International Finance (IIF) analysis. The IIF report says global debt grew by US$52 trillion since 2016 in an “unprecedented” splurge of borrowing… [Read More…]

Research Affiliates, the global smart-beta manager and advisory group, has called on institutional investors to pressure companies over their reporting of green-house gas emissions. Forward-looking reporting is proving useless, a new study reveals. In a webinar for Australian and New Zealand investors and advisers last week (November 18), Vitali Kalesnik, Research Affiliates partner and director… [Read More…]

Large financial institutions could slash back-office trading costs by up to a quarter through automation, a new white paper by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) claims. The DTCC findings, based on a survey of nine large global trading institutions, found automating seven key back-office processes could reduce costs by between 20-25 per cent…. [Read More…]

Another KiwiSaver provider is poised to enter the fray this week, bringing the population up to 35 schemes. To be offered via the Select Wealth brand, part of the Investment Services Group (ISG) family, the new scheme, however, will be issued under the NZX-owned Smartshares managed investment scheme (MIS) licence – a first-of-its-kind ‘hosting’ arrangement… [Read More…]

Unlisted portfolio investment entity (PIE) vehicles have emerged as the most tax-effective way for New Zealanders to invest in global equities over the long run, according to a new study by MyFiduciary. Although the finding is couched in caveats, the MyFiduciary report, produced in association with Kernel Wealth, gives the nod for tax efficiency to… [Read More…]

Assets in alternative investments are expected to grow by 9.8 per cent a year over the next five years, to hit US$17 trillion (A$23.4 trillion) by 2025, according to the latest research by Preqin, the global alternatives research and data provider. Private equity will double to US$9.11 trillion and Asia will be a “huge driver”…. [Read More…]