Investment News

The survey results, though, show Australia’s financial services and banking salaries likely growth only as “flat” and New Zealand’s as “marginal”. James Nicholson, Robert Walters managing director for Australia and New Zealand, said: “In the wake of recent scandals in the banking and financial services sector in Australia, centred on misconduct within the banks, the… [Read More…]

Bloomberg Asset and Investment Management (AIM) global manager, Steve Ioannou, and regional manager, Philippa Thompson, sum up the data challenges for fund managers as detailed in their new report..   Forward-thinking asset managers need to embrace a long-term data-driven approach to their operations. Asset managers globally are collectively on a critical journey to modernize their… [Read More…]

Australia’s financial services industry should prepare for an onslaught of vote-gathering criticism in the country’s upcoming general election, according to Maria Wilton, chair of the country’s CFA Society Diversity Committee. In Auckland earlier this month at the launch of the new NZ CFA Society associate membership category, Wilton said the ongoing Royal Commission (RC) into… [Read More…]

Pie Funds is to drop its controversial performance fee model in favour of flat, all-in charges across its product range. In a radical turn-of-foot, Pie will introduce single management fees for its suite of 10 funds as of April 1 next year rather than the complex array of performance fees currently in operation. As of… [Read More…]

Mercer has landed a $200 million mandate with AMP as a balanced fund option on the group’s KiwiSaver and NZ Retirement Trust (NZRT) platforms. Under the deal, due to take effect on June 25, Mercer will replace Fisher Funds in the AMP line-up that also includes ANZ, ASB and Nikko as well as a range… [Read More…]

Nikko Asset Management is searching for a new senior sales manager after incumbent, Michael Robson, resigned last week. It is understood, Robson, will take up a similar position with rival firm Milford Asset Management. He has spent just over four years at Nikko in business development roles – the last two in a senior position… [Read More…]

NZ-headquartered investment firms Booster and Simplicity have indicated support for a new Vanguard global bond fund due to launch in August. In a statement last week, Booster said it had locked in about $200 million into the prospective Vanguard international fixed income fund that would exclude “a range of controversial sectors, including weapons, gambling, fossil… [Read More…]

A new study detailing the nitty-gritty of responsible investment (RI) has found examples of best practice across asset owners of all shapes and sizes. Simon O’Connor, Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA) chief, said the latest report uncovered successful RI strategies in a range of different institutions. “We found examples of leading RI implementation in… [Read More…]

The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has lobbied for exempt status in a submission to the Sir Michael Cullen-led Tax Working Group (TWG). In a just-published submission the NZS, which has paid $6.25 billion in tax since inception in 2003, argues shifting to the globally standard tax-free model for sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) would be a… [Read More…]

In a world-first arrangement, the CFA Society of NZ is opening up an ‘associate member’ category designed to boost the ethical status of the country’s financial advisers. Jeff Stangl, CFA Society NZ president, said the new associate membership offer – to be formally launched this Tuesday in Auckland – would provide a globally-recognised stamp of… [Read More…]