Home-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provide NZ investors with a sizeable tax uplift across both equity and fixed income asset classes, a new study by the Hong Kong arm of EY shows. According to the EY analysis, investors in NZX-listed ETFs tracking global share indices could garner after-tax returns of up to 15 per cent above… [Read More…]
Investment News
AMP central staff cuts expected to flow across Tasman
The NZ-based operations of AMP could be hit by planned company-wide job cuts revealed by the ASX-listed firm last week. In a note to AMP employees last week, chief executive, Francesco De Ferrari, flagged a business restructure that could see the workforce shrink by up to 30 per cent in some divisions, according to Australian… [Read More…]
Age-related changes hit scheme stats, FMA finds
It’s official: KiwiSaver is getting older. New data from the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) shows the KiwiSaver membership age skewed upwards over the 12 months ending March 31. According to the FMA figures, the proportion of KiwiSaver members aged 66 and above jumped by 12 per cent in the latest annual period to almost 130,000… [Read More…]
Quoted funds widen managed funds distribution
The launch early in February this year of Australia’s first unlisted fund to be quoted on the ASX, by Magellan group and its administrator, Mainstream, took a while to sink in, not helped by the dislocation caused by the pandemic crisis. But, as Australia, at least, is preparing to get back to business at some… [Read More…]
Data bias: how three simple factors explain half of ESG scores
Standard environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings could be polluted by three traditional investment factors that account for close to 50 per cent of observed corporate financial performance, according to a new study by index provider FTSE Russell. The FTSE Russell analysis found that “almost half of the information contained in the ESG ratings is… [Read More…]
Provider games begin as KiwiSaver default rules go live
KiwiSaver default fund tenders are now go after the government released the ‘request for proposal’ (RFP) documents this afternoon. The just-published RFP documents confirm both the fossil fuel exclusion rules and balanced fund asset allocation settings required when the new default regime kicks off next December. It appears the government has opted for the tougher… [Read More…]
The horror year in technicolour: free KiwiSaver 13 report released
Back by popular demand for its 13th edition, the Investment News NZ (IN NZ) annual KiwiSaver report is now available free to download. Landing slightly later than in previous years, due to COVID-related scheme reporting delays, the IN NZ ‘KiwiSaver the 13th’ study captures the market at one of its lowest historical points. All annual… [Read More…]
Cullen unleashed: letting the dogs out
Public opinion is the only barrier to any government draining the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS), former Labour Finance Minister Sir Michael Cullen told a CFA Society virtual audience last week. In a wide-ranging webivised conversation, hosted by local financial industry identity Craig Stobo, Cullen said “In our constitutional system there is no way of stopping… [Read More…]
New-look and feel for MMC as Aegis era ends
Auckland-based investment back-office specialist MMC has refreshed its brand in a makeover that consigns the Aegis platform name to history. To be known as MMC Wealth Administration from this week, the Aegis investment platform acquired from ASB last year now sits beside the company’s traditional fund administration business and, more recent, custody service. In a… [Read More…]
Russell looks inside the circle for new consultant
Russell Investments NZ has named David Kandziora as its new senior investment consultant, replacing Julian Darby, who left the firm last month after 13 years. As reported in July, the Auckand-domiciled Darby resigned to take up an independent director role with a Russell client, understood to be a family office. Kandziora previously worked with specialist… [Read More…]