Recently-hired interim ANZ Investments CIO, Paul Huxford, could parlay the stop-gap role into a permanent appointment. Huxford, fast-tracked into the CIO job following the surprise resignation of incumbent Graham Ansell in late March, said he was interested in extending his tenure. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it would be for the long… [Read More…]
Investment News
MMC sources custody with Mint
Auckland-based fund administration firm MMC has landed its first custody client after launching the service earlier this year. Tom Reiher, MMC chief, said the firm went live with foundation custody client, the Mint Core Equities Fund, in the last fortnight. “We’ve been looking at adding custody for a while and have just launched with one… [Read More…]
Peterson promises Simplicity answer, and simplicity
The NZX looks likely to cut fees on some of its Smartshares products following the launch of a pair of aggressively-priced local asset funds by passive fund provider, Simplicity. Mark Peterson, NZX chief, told a concerned shareholder at the group’s AGM last week that the stock exchange operator had noted the competitive risk posed by… [Read More…]
NZ Super $200m lost loan case reappears this week
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) heads back to court this week in the next phase of a long-running effort to recover about $200 million of taxpayer dollars lost in a soured 2014 Portuguese bank debt investment. In a two-day hearing scheduled to begin on April 17 in the UK Supreme Court both the NZS… [Read More…]
Banga drops TE director role; Mercer ramps up global responsibility team
Trustees Executors (TE) director, Franceska Banga, has resigned after less than a year in the role. Banga’s departure – which, pending any replacement, cuts the TE board down to three – comes amidst a string of high-level staff exits at the Wellington-headquartered firm. As reported last week TE lost three senior executives in the space… [Read More…]
IRD keeps fee GST decision on ice; applies heat to cryptos
NZ’s fund management industry will have to wait at least a few more months for clarity on how GST applies to fees. A spokesperson for the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) said the tax authority was “still considering our response” to industry feedback on two consultation papers closed off in March last year. Released in February… [Read More…]
Mainstream nabs Andy Harrison from Link
Mainstream Group Holdings, the largest independent managed funds administrator in Australia, has recruited Andy Harrison, the former head of Link Fund Solutions, as its new chief executive of fund services for Australia. As reported last week, he left Link after about 15 months there. The appointment is a coup for Mainstream. It is also expected… [Read More…]
Regulator lays new twisting path for UK managers, leaves trails as is
UK-based fund managers will face tough new disclosure and governance rules next year in the wake of a regulatory investigation that has left trail commissions on the table – for now. In its final rule rewrite released early in April, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has stuck by most of the original proposals announced… [Read More…]
Nanuk blending ESG with the new world of ‘deep learning’
Move over machine learning. Here comes deep learning. Unlike machine learning, which is a computation of statistics that leads to changes which appear to be, but are not, of a behavioural nature, deep learning is an artificial neural network with many layers of data. So, there you have it. Both are types of artificial intelligence… [Read More…]
Staff turnover continues at Trustees
Trustees Executors (TE) already-busy recruitment drive has gone into turbo mode following the departure of three more senior staff over the last few weeks. John Winch, former TE head of private wealth, finished with the firm last week following earlier resignations from long-time client services manager, Sean Roberts, and more recent hire, Peter Wells. The… [Read More…]