Investment News

In a “weird and volatile world” equity investors still need to focus on traditional signals, T Rowe Price global portfolio manager, Scott Berg, told a NZ audience last week. Berg, on brief tour of the country with NZ fund partner, Harbour Asset Management, said share investors should “thoughtfully look through” the current meta-noise to examine… [Read More…]

The NZ$1.2 billion UK pension transfer provider, IVCM, has signed with the Ralph Stewart-founded Lifetime group to act as manager for its NZ schemes rather than a buyout as reported here last week. Dannie Fox, IVCM Australia regional head, said under the deal Lifetime would take over as manager for the two NZ products offered… [Read More…]

NZ-based Australasian wholesale equity managers produced a less-than 50/50 result over the 12 months and quarter to September 30, according to the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) survey. While NZ equity managers as a group have historically tended to beat the S&P/NZX50 index, the MJW report says “fewer than half the funds have achieved an… [Read More…]

Nikko Asset Management NZ has continued its rapid rise up the retail fund rankings, according to the latest Strategic Insight (SI) survey, cracking through the $1 billion mark for the first time. The figures from Australian research and actuarial firm SI (previously known as Plan for Life) show Nikko was by far the fastest-growing retail… [Read More…]

Wellington-headquartered financial services firm, Booster, has taken a 20 per cent stake in Australian robo-advice business, BigFuture. Under the terms of the deal, Booster would have “exclusive rights” to the BigFuture technology in New Zealand. In a statement, Booster (formerly Grosvenor) managing director, Allan Yeo, said the BigFuture tools would “help 100,000 clients and their… [Read More…]

One of the few pockets of growth for institutional fund managers over the last few years has been in the insurance market. Big insurance companies are increasingly outsourcing part or all of their investment management. According to Neuberger Berman, one of the biggest managers with a specialist offering for insurance companies, only about 10 per… [Read More…]

Smart beta investors are increasingly looking for more sophisticated multi-factor solutions and across a range of asset classes, according to a new FTSE Russell report. Published this month, the FTSE Russell ‘Evolution of factor investing’ paper says the top two concerns among institutional investors were how to select the best smart beta strategies and managing… [Read More…]

For TA Associates, the private equity manager with a penchant for funds management firms, the purchase of Goldman Sachs’ Australian equities and fixed interest businesses marks its 20th such deal. Dion Hershan, the new company’s managing director, tells a little about his plans. Hershan has been the head of the Aussie equities business since he… [Read More…]

In addition to launching New Zealand’s newest superannuation fund, Garrison Bridge, the Ralph Stewart-backed Lifetime group will takeover as manager of two super schemes offered under the IVCM brand. Stewart said Lifetime had partnered with the £16.6 million (about NZ$28.5 million) IVCM scheme – previously known as Brooklands – to takeover management duties in readiness… [Read More…]

After a slow start the NZX-owned research house FundSource is set to deliver its almost-first batch of qualitative manager reports provided by Australian-based firm Research IP. Darren Howlin, Research IP head, said he was finalising report details with a number of NZ fund managers with publication scheduled in a couple of weeks. “We’ve been flying… [Read More…]