Harbour Senior Research Analyst Oyvinn Rimer recently took a trip to China, to investigate the state of the Chinese consumer milk market. Disclosure: Harbour owns a2 Milk in a number of portfolios. Having regularly visited China for a decade now, it never ceases to amaze me the sheer scale and speed of their development…. [Read More…]
Investment News
FMA looks for bank assurance, keeps AMP in silo
The NZ regulator has singled AMP out for special attention as it scrambles to understand the impact of the ongoing Australian financial services Royal Commission (RC) this side of the ditch. In a joint letter sent last week, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) requested all local banks to… [Read More…]
Cullen tax group readies to sort it out
The Tax Working Group (TWG) has reached a “few tentative conclusions” prior to wading into the almost 6,700 submissions it received during a just-closed consultation process, according to chair, Sir Michael Cullen. “But there’s a long way to go before we reach any major conclusions,” Cullen said. Firstly, the TWG must parse the 6,700 or… [Read More…]
SmartShares product head resigns; Harbour analyst plays Green Card and leaves; Heathcote replaces Batty
The NZX-owned exchange-traded fund (ETF) business, SmartShares, is short a senior executive after incumbent, Dean Anderson, resigned. Anderson, who finishes a six-year stint with SmartShares at the end of this week, took over as product manager for the-now over $2 billion index fund unit in 2014. Hugh Stevens, NZX head of funds management, said Anderson… [Read More…]
History for BT as Pendal maps out a new direction
Whatever happened to BT? Greg Bright, publisher of Australian financial industry website Investor Strategy News, looks back as one of most famous names in Australasian funds management rebrands… For many folk in the industry, the name change from BT Investment Management to Pendal Group, at a ‘ringing-of-the-bell’ ceremony at the ASX last Friday, was… [Read More…]
Milford gets real with Morningstar; survey picks up KiwiSaver static
Morningstar has signed up its inaugural NZ client for a suite of reporting tools that include giving investors access to real-time performance data. Nigel O’Brien, Morningstar head of sales for Australia and NZ, said Milford Asset Management was the researcher’s first client this side of the Tasman for the technology package. “It’s used by quite… [Read More…]
Wisdom from the mount: how funds can achieve best practice
Roger Urwin is, arguably, the most influential asset consultant in the world. Once in a while we are graced with his presence in Australia and New Zealand. That happened last week, in Melbourne, and here are some of his words of wisdom: life is going to get more difficult. Urwin actually started the investment consulting… [Read More…]
NZ investors to get more China on their plate
Looming access to Chinese financial assets and a cross-region digital makeover of market infrastructure were poised to open new opportunities for Asia-Pacific investors, according to BNP Paribas Securities Services APAC head of custody product, Gary O’Brien. The Hong Kong-based O’Brien, in NZ last week on client visits, said the imminent inclusion of China A stocks… [Read More…]
How cancer research gains from American Century growth
American Century Investments, a truly unique US-based global manager, has opened an Australasian office, in Sydney. Because of its ownership structure, the firm, which already has about A$2 billion in Australian-sourced mandates, can comfortably take a coveted long-term approach to investing. As reported elsewhere last week, American Century, which has nine client funds in Australia… [Read More…]
Ministers says yes to industry conference
The conjoined Workplace Savings NZ (WSNZ) and Financial Services Council (FSC) conference will feature two NZ government ministers at the 2018 event set down for September. Richard Klipin, head of the almost-unified FSC/WSNZ, said both Finance Minister, Grant Robertson, and Commerce Minister, Kris Faafoi, would headline the conference to be held at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel… [Read More…]