Investment News

The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) is seeking a new head of local active equities following the resignation of incumbent, Brian Bourdôt. Bourdôt, who joined NZS in 2013 as portfolio manager before assuming the domestic shares gig left vacant by Tim Mitchell in 2015, will exit the $40 billion plus fund in a few weeks to… [Read More…]

The Securities and Exchange Commission in the US is coming after a start-up Australian funds management firm, Goldsky Asset Management, for misleading representations to potential investors. The SEC law suit shines a light on the Gold Coast-based firm which had a glittering celebrity launch just last year. According to the SEC, Goldsky, which called itself… [Read More…]

Investment advisers have been granted relief – for now – from meeting degree-level educational standards under the draft ‘Financial Advice Code’ released last week. Instead of a degree-level qualification mooted for all ‘financial planning’ advice under the first version of the document released in March, the revised code applies a universal ‘level 5’ educational standard… [Read More…]

A common ‘smart beta’ portfolio construction technique could be fudging factor exposures, a new FTSE Russell paper argues. The FTSE Russell analysis found the popular ‘selection and weighting’ (SW) smart beta portfolio construction method can lead to factor pollution as well as diversification and implementation weaknesses. Under the SW technique managers build portfolios by selecting… [Read More…]

Former PM, Bill English, will headline the CFA Society NZ gala dinner at the end of this month with trust in financial services set to be a key talking point. In a statement, Jeff Stangl, CFA Society NZ president, said the Australian Royal Commission (RC) into financial services would inevitably feature in discussions on the… [Read More…]

A Canadian pension fund and an investment firm founded by former US vice-president, Al Gore, have stumped up almost $2.3 billion to secure a two-thirds stake in Wellington-originated platform business, FNZ. According to a Bloomberg report published overnight, Gore’s Generation Investment Management and Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec teamed up to buy… [Read More…]

The $3 billion NZX-owned funds management business is doubling down on growth efforts in the face of a shareholder critique with the addition of two new senior roles. Last week the NZX named Thom Bentley as Smartshares head of institutional sales while the stock exchange operator is also on the hunt for a head of… [Read More…]

Russell Investments has filled a senior asset consultant role left vacant by the departure of George Thomson for BNZ this August. In a note to clients last week, Russell confirmed Guy Fisher, previously Aon Hewitt investment consultant, would step into the position as of next week. Fisher, who officially ended an almost five-year career with… [Read More…]

Up to five private equity firms are vying for a two-thirds stake in Wellington-originated investment platform business, FNZ, UK trade press reported last week. The New Model Adviser website says FNZ senior management would allegedly prefer multiple buyers for the majority shareholding – currently split between private equity managers, General Atlantic and HIG Europe –… [Read More…]