Investment News

Fund management businesses face fundamental problems despite booking robust growth and profit numbers last year, according to a new Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study. And BCG suggests the solutions will see cost-cutting, consolidation, more exchange-traded funds (ETFs), private asset tilts and distribution shake-outs across the industry. The 23rd edition of the BCG ‘Global Asset Management… [Read More…]

Mercer is understood to have acquired control of the circa $550 million ANZ Investments legacy superannuation fund business following a competitive tender. ANZ put its vintage super fund assets on the market late last year after previously bailing out of the wholesale investment game. Between them, the storied super schemes – a group comprising the… [Read More…]

The COVID crash has officially faded into history, according to the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) quarterly investment survey, for investors with a five-year memory limit at least. Despite a rough first three months for equity markets this year, the five-year KiwiSaver return figures, for instance, improved markedly quarter-on-quarter as the March 2020 pandemic rout… [Read More…]

NZ and Australia have bucked the global trend that saw record high net outflows from sustainable-label funds in the March quarter including a first backward step for the sector in Europe. Data from the Morningstar-owned Sustainalytics confirms a strong global shift away from environmental, social and governance (ESG) styled products amid a US political crackdown… [Read More…]

Pathfinder has added to the KiwiSaver high-growth movement with the soft-launch of an aggressive option this month. The new Pathfinder diversified strategy dials-up the exposure to risk assets to 90 per cent compared to 70 per cent for its standard growth fund. John Berry, Pathfinder chief, said the manager created the High Growth Fund following… [Read More…]

The Lifetime Income novel reverse mortgage offer flagged last year has struck a chord with investors, the group says in an update to shareholders. “While early in the launch, to date we have received over 2,000 Lifetime Home enquiries, of these 167 converted into formal eligibility requests, 102 of these passed our home assessment criteria,… [Read More…]

Up to $500 million could be queued-up to exit KiwiSaver schemes under new QROPS rules that came into force this month designed to set free funds caught in a UK tax-trap. The legislative change allows KiwiSaver members to unlock funds transferred via UK qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme arrangements prior to June 17, 2015. Until… [Read More…]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has found investment markets tend to price-in some geopolitical risks but regularly fail to incorporate the long-term impact of major shocks such as war. According to the IMF study included with its just-released global financial stability report, investment markets have mostly shrugged-off an almost uninterrupted series of global conflicts dating… [Read More…]

Under-the-radar NZ global equities boutique, Elevation Capital, is set to embark on a retail distribution and product expansion as the owners of online trading platform, BlackBull Markets, enter the share register. Eden Bradfield, BlackBull head of research and newly minted Elevation co portfolio manager, said the group expected to find a ready retail client base… [Read More…]

Fisher Funds has moved closer to rationalising its triple-headed KiwiSaver suite with structural tweaks at two of the firm’s previously acquired schemes. Under changes introduced at the end of March, the Fisher KiwiSaver Plan (ex Kiwi Wealth) now shares the same formal management entity as the group’s flagship scheme and a more similar investment menu…. [Read More…]