Investment News

The MSCI group has launched a swathe of indices for the Australian market, its first single-country domestic indices outside the US. There are 52 Australian indices to choose from on top of custom indices, with the first two about to be launched by a client. As well as a full range of 16 Australian shares… [Read More…]

Almost half of the top 500 global fund manager brands have disappeared over the last decade, the latest Thinking Ahead Institute (TAI) annual review of the sector has found. The TAI study, released last week, says “232 names in our 2009 list of 500 largest asset managers are not in our 2019 list”. In somewhat… [Read More…]

The NZ retail funds sector topped up the kitty by almost $10 billion in the June quarter, according to new figures from consultancy firm Plan for Life (PFL), rounding off a remarkable recovery from the March 2020 lows. “Retail Managed Funds increased 9.3% during the June quarter to NZ$116.1bn and were similarly up 9.1% over… [Read More…]

The Financial Services Council is to now prepare a policy discussion (‘green’) paper for the industry and Government, to be delivered in 2021, following the release of a major report by Rice Warner proposing sweeping changes to Australia’s financial advice system. The Rice Warner report was commissioned by the FSC and discussed at the association’s… [Read More…]

Private debt will assume a larger role in supporting NZ businesses as the economy moves out of pandemic emergency mode, according to Bob Sahota, Revolution Asset Management chief investment officer. With mainstream banks facing capital constraints and government support for COVID-hit businesses due to end, ‘non-traditional’ lending would become increasingly important, Sahota said in a… [Read More…]

AMP has swallowed the passive pill, appointing BlackRock to manage its KiwiSaver and superannuation master trust schemes under index conditions. In a release this morning, AMP says it would replace its main incumbent manager – sister firm AMP Capital – “once preparatory activities have been completed”. “The transition to the new investment model is expected… [Read More…]

NZ suffered a minor downgrade in the latest Mercer annual review of global pension systems released this morning. The 12th Mercer Global Pension Index, this year produced in association with new sponsor – the CFA Institute, shows the NZ retirement system slipped almost 2 points overall year-to-year to 68.3 (out of a maximum 100) due… [Read More…]

Forsyth Barr is set to leapfrog Craigs Investment Partners as the largest authorised financial adviser (AFA) network in NZ in a deal to purchase the retail wealth arm of Westpac. In a statement, a Westpac NZ spokesperson said the bank was consulting with 32 employees in its wealth team “about a proposal to sell part… [Read More…]

The $4.2 billion Government Superannuation Fund (GSF) has launched an independent review of its investment strategy after a poor two-year run has seen the scheme slip behind reference portfolio targets over all periods. According to the recently published GSF annual report, the offshore equities-heavy fund was down -1.7 per cent for the 12 months to… [Read More…]

Veteran NZ investment manager, Tony Hildyard, is calling for better disclosure of ‘hidden’ tax leakage through offshore-domiciled funds that unnecessarily short-changes local investors. Hildyard, head of the almost $900 million Hunter Investment Management, said while tax slippage through overseas-based funds – such as Australian unit trusts (AUTs) – was a well-known industry issue, most end… [Read More…]