Investment News

The NZ retirement savings system could be nudged into A-grade territory but not by preferential tax treatment, according to Martin Lewington, head of Mercer NZ. Lewington said the evidence that tax lurks increased overall savings levels was “ambiguous” at best. “I much prefer that we have a level playing field for all investment vehicles than… [Read More…]

AMP Capital is moving to a composite bond index for its almost $2 billion NZ fixed income fund as of next year. Currently tagged to the Bloomberg NZ Government Bond Index (NZGBI), the AMP local fixed income fund will adopt the new benchmark – comprising a mix of corporate and government securities – on January… [Read More…]

Calvert Research and Management, the US-based ESG specialist, has expanded its team of analysts and has plans for more hires. The Eaton Vance-affiliate manager is also looking to provide more direct service to Australian and New Zealand funds. Washington-based Calvert last month announced the recruitment of four analysts – Daniel Dorman, Hellen Mbugua, John Patrick Miller… [Read More…]

The Bank of China NZ (BOC) has created a new investment option built around a recent government policy change incentivising special visa immigrants to allocate more to local growth assets. BOC launched a world-first wholesale fund in 2016 targeting Chinese immigrants looking to enter NZ under special Investor Category visas. The bank now offers a… [Read More…]

There are 27 open class actions in Australia at the moment, accounting for roughly 10 per cent of the market capitalisation of the ASX 200. Australia has become the second-most important market for investor class cations in the world. Investors need to take note. Whether or not it is an emerging asset class, there is… [Read More…]

AMP has sold its Australasian life insurance business to Resolution Life with an IPO planned for the NZ wealth management arm in 2019. Resolution Life is a UK/US-based has bough almost 30 life insurance firms across the world. In a statement issued this morning, AMP NZ chief, Blair Vernon, said. “Importantly, policyholders will retain all… [Read More…]

Some financial institutions were still dragging their heels on reform despite the pressure for change emerging out of the Royal Commission (RC), Australia’s top financial regulator said last week. James Shipton, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chair, told the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services on Friday that the industry had been… [Read More…]

The Morningstar NZ asset allocation panel has slightly pared back exposure to global shares in favour of domestic fixed income at its latest quarterly meeting. In its NZ Quarterly Economic Briefing published last week, the Morningstar expert panel – which sets the asset allocation model for financial adviser clients – kept settings pretty much on… [Read More…]

Australians love their royals. Even the republicans amongst us are very happy to engage with royal tours. The growing anti-tobacco lobby managed to hop on the bandwagon, by accident, last Thursday morning to launch a new initiative in the important anti-tobacco movement. An Arabian princess presided over the proceedings. The breakfast, on October 18, included… [Read More…]