If you work in financial markets, you could be forgiven for thinking there’s a curse on the third and fourth quarters of years ending in a seven, says Erik Knutzen. Standouts are 1987, 1997 and 2007. What about 2017, with the possibility of a nuclear war? Knutzen, the CIO of multi-asset class for global manager… [Read More…]
Investment News
Mercer diversifies board, Harbour fills exec spot
Mercer NZ has added to the “very small group of Māori” women at the upper echelons of the investment world with the appointment of Kristen Kohere-Soutar as director, the group said in a statement last week. Kohere-Soutar, currently chair of the $62 million Ngāi Tahu-run Whai Rawa Fund, joined Mercer NZ as independent non-executive director… [Read More…]
Joint conference a sell-out (almost) as industry meets politics head-on
The joint Financial Services Council (FSC) and Workplace Savings NZ (WSNZ) conference scheduled for next month has “all but sold out”, according to dual chief executive, Richard Klipin. Klipin said the 240-seat affair – the first shared conference for the two possibly-engaged partners – was well on the way to being a sell-out with just… [Read More…]
Link efficiencies help earnings growth ahead of CAS purchase
Link Group, the increasingly diversified fund and share registry administration company, has lifted its operating earnings despite flat revenue growth off the back of integration synergies from its acquisitions, growth in the Informational Digital and Data Services business and growth in corporate markets. The net results also benefitted from what Link refers to as “business… [Read More…]
Government makes wholesale changes to wholesale in revised adviser law…
Fewer clients will be classified as ‘wholesale investors’ under the post-consultation Financial Services Legislation Bill (FSL) shipped off to Parliament last month. James Hartley, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) manager financial markets policy, said the tightening of the ‘wholesale investor’ definition was one of the major amendments from the draft FSL. “Most of… [Read More…]
… as working group plants code operational rules
The Code Working Group (CWG), set up this month to landscape the new incoming financial advisory regime, has laid the groundwork for its own one-year growth plan. In a paper published last week, the CWG will oversee the development of a new adviser code of conduct – due to take root in August 2018 –… [Read More…]
How active share is relatively passive in NZ (and why investors shouldn’t be)
NZ equity fund managers have a much lower benchmark-hugger threshold to cross than global counterparts, a new report by Auckland-headquartered actuarial consulting firm, Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) has revealed. The MJW analysis of ‘active share’ – a measure of how much a manager deviates from the index – estimates a theoretical NZ maximum for the… [Read More…]
Aussie Super’s proof index funds underperform
John Peterson, a former fund manager and asset consultant who is known for some big and successful market calls, has published a research note which adds to the growing concerns about the trend to passive management. Maybe it’s time for an intervention. The research note studies the performance of two main balanced options offered by… [Read More…]
Nikko goes part-disruptor with ETF deal
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – albeit of a niche variety – could be on the Nikko Asset Management NZ menu after its Japanese parent took a slice of US-based firm, ARK Investment Management. Nikko NZ chief, George Carter, said the manager would test market demand here before offering any of the ARK ETFs, which target financial… [Read More…]
The unloved ones: how a value manager sees the banks
Value investing is a core strategy for super fund members. It’s about the Rothschilds and Warren Buffett. It’s about Ben Graham, the father of the theory behind value investing. However you carve up history, value investing makes sense. But investing goes in cycles. Where are we now? According to Caroline Cai, portfolio manager at Pzena… [Read More…]