Investment News

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has knocked backed suggestions the regulator is breaching its powers by fast-forwarding the robo revolution. High-profile financial adviser, Murray Weatherston, said the FMA proposal released last week to allow personalised robo-advice tools prior to an impending law change “usurps the role of Parliament”. Weatherston said while the FMA does have… [Read More…]

New financial adviser legislation bringing the industry largely under the aegis of the Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMC) will be in Parliament some time next month. James Hartley, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) head of financial markets, said the Financial Services Legislation Bill (FSL) was on track to be tabled in Parliament mid-July… [Read More…]

Link Group has made a major acquisition in the UK which expands its existing global share registry business and given it a big leg-up in its recently entered Australian funds administration business. Details are expected to be announced in Australia today (June 26). The UK-based Capita PLC, told the London Stock Exchange (LSE) late Friday,… [Read More…]

Online direct funds service InvestNow has scheduled eight new products to join the platform over the next few weeks. Mike Heath, InvestNow general manager, said the funds would allow direct investors to tap into mainstream products offered by two of New Zealand’s largest fund managers, ANZ Investments and Nikko Asset Management. “Both ANZ and Nikko… [Read More…]

Parametric, the global implementation specialist manager, has put the icing on the cake for ESG investing with its latest research. The white paper not only shows there is little-or-no loss to returns from embracing ESG; it also offers up some tips for returns enhancement through the process. Visiting Australia to speak with clients this week,… [Read More…]

The Financial Services Council (FSC) just-announced quartet of inaugural awards would set a “benchmark for excellence” across all industry sectors the organisation represented, according to CEO, Richard Klipin. While FSC membership remained heavily-skewed to the insurer side of the ledger, Klipin said the awards were also expected to attract entries from investment practitioners and support… [Read More…]

“Do not. Expect it to be long,” Mark Weaver wrote me on May 23. “Hoping for soft landing. Go well.” I always told him to keep his sentences short. But not that short. Unfortunately, in keeping with his actuarial training, he had judged the odds correctly again – signing out of this world just two… [Read More…]

In its only new external mandate for the year to date the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) has flicked a further $200 million towards the US life settlements market. The $35 billion NZS made the allocation in May via the Apollo Global Management Financial Credit Investment III fund – its third go around with the… [Read More…]

The $200 million plus Community Trust of Southland (CTOS) has named Denis Woods as interim head following the sudden departure of long-time incumbent, John Prendergast, earlier this month. In a statement issued last week, CTOS says Woods, a chartered accountant, would fill the role while the organisation recruited a permanent general manager. As reported previously,… [Read More…]

Milford Asset Management is closing in on $4 billion in retail funds, the latest figures from Australian research outfit Strategic Insight (SI) show. The SI March 2017 quarterly statistics put Milford’s total retail funds under management (FUM) at over $3.9 billion, representing an annual increase of almost 21 per cent (and 4.4 per cent for… [Read More…]