Investment News

AMP has begun restocking its recently-depleted boards with two appointments last week. The group named John O’Sullivan joins as AMP Ltd non-executive director and John Nesbitt as independent chair of AMP Capital Holdings (Australia). An almost 40-year veteran in the financial services industry, O’Sullivan was most recently Credit Suisse Australia investment banking executive chair. Previously,… [Read More…]

Martin Currie Investment Management, the Edinburgh-based global equities firm owned by Legg Mason, the big Baltimore-based multi-affiliate manager, has appointed a new global head of ‘distribution and strategy’. The move highlights the nuances in a funds management model increasingly seen as the way of the future. Julian Ide joined Martin Currie late last month and… [Read More…]

Global investment benchmark giant, FTSE Russell, will make it harder for companies to enter its environmental, social and governance (ESG) index – and easier to leave – under new thresholds due to be phased in by 2021. In its ‘2018 Step Change’ report published last week, the London Stock Exchange-owned (LSE) index provider says companies… [Read More…]

Stories abound about US and UK managers, who have provided the core of the offering of global and other international strategies to Australian investors for decades, being loath to set up shop in Australasia any more. It may be a great place to visit, especially during the northern winter, but it’s an increasingly difficult place… [Read More…]

Up to $900 million is looking for a new home as ANZ Investments finalises a break-up with long-standing Australian shares manager, Arnhem Investment Management. ANZ Investments is Arnhem’s biggest remaining Australian equities client under a separate mandate that is understood to range between $800 million to $900 million. Last week the Sydney-based institutional equities firm,… [Read More…]

The $5 billion government-owned Kiwi Wealth business has hired an Australian consultant to review its fragmented back-office operations. Sydney-based Drew Vaughan, principal owner of Dymond, Foulds and Vaughan, is due to wrap up the Kiwi Wealth review this month with services such as custody under the microscope. According to Joe Bishop, Kiwi Wealth head of… [Read More…]

The financial adviser code ‘concept’ proposal has attracted more than double the number of submissions racked up by the draft legislation underpinning it. According to chair Angus Dale-Jones, the Code Working Group (CWG) has about 160 submissions to sift through before moving on to the next stage of the process. The Financial Services Legislation Amendment… [Read More…]

NZ fund managers should have one last crack at lobbying the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) on the proposed GST zero-rating for unit trust fees. According to Paul Smith, head of indirect tax for the NZ arm of global consultancy firm EY, fund managers have a “narrow window” to put their case to the IRD before… [Read More…]

AMP Capital has awarded a $135 million risk-premia mandate to GAM Investments. The mandate will sit inside the multi-manager’s ‘alternative growth’ category of its multi-asset funds to complement other alternative beta and absolute return strategies. GAM systematic alternative risk premia portfolios typically target around 15 risk premia strategies across the style categories of value, momentum… [Read More…]

Christchurch-based investment platform business, Consilium, could hit $3 billion under administration by the end of 2018, according to CEO, Scott Alman. Alman said Consilium currently held about $2.65 billion on the FNZ-built platform compared to just $1.5 billion in February last year. “We’re on track to hit $3 billion by the end of the year,”… [Read More…]