Investment News

In a well-signalled move, Smart rolled four new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) off the factory line last week. The fresh batch of on-trend ETFs reflect the NZX-owned funds management arm sharpened focus on meeting market needs, according to Smart chief, Anna Scott. “We’re a product manufacturer,” Scott said. “We want to give NZ investors options.” She… [Read More…]

BNP Paribas Securities Services has released its European road-tested environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance tool in Australia and NZ amid a step-up in regulatory oversight of sustainable investment practices in the region. In a release, BNP Paribas said the newly launched service would allow Australasian fund managers and asset owners to “incorporate customisable and… [Read More…]

Global pension funds posted an atypical aggregate net below-benchmark annual investment performance during 2023, according to a specialist research house. New figures from CEM Benchmarking found the average ‘net value added’- or NVA – of the US$14 trillion of pension fund money it tracks fell into the red for the “first time in a decade”… [Read More…]

When you’re good at doing something – say, traditional long-only equity management – it’s very tempting to keep doing it. That’s part of the reason why asset managers all around the world have been caught flat-footed as a series of disruptive changes have swept the industry they once ruled, according to Jonathan Thomas, CEO of… [Read More…]

Financial Markets Authority (FMA) chief, Samantha Barrass, has knocked back industry fears that current fund liquidity guidelines serve as a barrier to government plans to increase investments in private assets. In a letter sent to licensed fund managers last week, Barrass says the regulator had received feedback that the liquidity guide, as updated this April,… [Read More…]

KiwiSaver has been declared statistically competitive once more in the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) analysis of the sector. The just-released MJW report found KiwiSaver competitiveness, as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), improved slightly year-on-year after ending a little more concentrated in the previous annual period. According to the study, the HHI score for… [Read More…]

The Eastern and Central Community Trust (ECCT) has appointed Forsyth Barr to run an almost $52 million shares portfolio previously managed by Auckland boutique, Elevation Capital. According to the 2024 ECCT annual report, the $51.8 million mandate change – amounting to almost a quarter of the charitable fund’s total assets – occurred post the March… [Read More…]

Former Fisher Funds head of fixed income, David McLeish, is set to re-emerge with a new venture dubbed Wedge Management. Wedge joined the Financial Service Providers Register last month as a wholesale managed investment scheme with the business likely to centre on a fixed interest offering. McLeish established Papakura Capital in May this year (changing… [Read More…]

The recently rebranded NZX-owned fund manager, Smart, hit almost $12.6 billion under management as at the end of September ahead of a new product suite launch. As reported in August, the business formerly known as Smartshares has slated the launch of four new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by year-end, adding to its existing range of 40…. [Read More…]

Despite the zoomification of professional content delivery, in-person conferences remain as must-go events for financial advisers and investment specialists. But Heathcote Investment Partners founder, Clayton Coplestone, argues real-life delegates deserve knowledge not just networking…   It must be conference season again. My inbox is stuffed full of invitations and save-the-dates to the growing number of… [Read More…]