Investment News

NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has named long-time strategic tilting head, Alex Bacchus, to temporarily fill the gap left by departing chief investment officer, Stephen Gilmore. Gilmore ends his more than five-year stint as CIO for the now $75 billion sovereign wealth fund this month to assume the same role at the biggest US pension fund,… [Read More…]

The Westpac-owned funds management business, BTNZ, is looking for a new head of operations following the departure of incumbent, Philippa Newlove, last week. Newlove assumed the top ops job at BTNZ in January 2023 after an almost 12-year career at the bank-owned investment house back-office. Prior to BTNZ she held senior risk and registry management… [Read More…]

After exploring the history and potential of new blockchain-based asset tokenisation technology to expand the frontiers of finance in part one of this series, NZ fintech expert, Binu Paul, details how some real-world pioneers have already boldly gone into the future…   As explained previously, asset tokenisation holds out the promise of creating a modern… [Read More…]

NZ-founded private markets platform, Syndex, has bolstered its presence across the Tasman after inking an agreement with a subsidiary of Australian financial technology firm, FinClear. Under a memorandum of understanding signed last week, Syndex and the FinClear-owned private capital administration operator, FCX, have agreed to create a formal partnership to provide shared services in both… [Read More…]

Wealthy investors rebalanced portfolios last year in favour of fixed income, real estate as well as alternatives while slashing cash and trimming exposure to equities, according to the latest Capgemini survey of the global super-rich. The annual study of high net worth investors (HNWI) – defined as having at least US$1 million in spare change… [Read More…]

Quant-based fund shop, Acadian, has warned emerging markets investors off themes and memes as asset allocation tools in a genre notorious for inspiring acronyms built on empty concepts. While emerging markets (EM) are not alone in producing catchy letter-based investment thematics (see FAANGs, for example), the sector has thrown up some of the most alluring… [Read More…]

Does private credit really represent a structural evolution in the alternatives market? Lachlan Maddock, editor of Australian trade publication Investor Strategy News, reports on a debate that is playing out across the investment world…   For: MA Financial head of credit investments and lending Frank Danieli. Against: Charlie Callan of research house Bond Advisor. And… [Read More…]

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has highlighted the authorised body (AB) system as one potential problem area in its inaugural review of the new advice licensing regime. Based on an in-depth probe of some 60 financial advice providers (FAPs), the regulatory monitoring report found the sector in generally good shape with a few caveats. The… [Read More…]

Mercer has shuttered a storied local shares fund after assets under management fell dramatically earlier this year. The Mercer NZ Shares strategy, inherited as part of the group’s takeover of the Macquarie NZ fund suite last year, closed in May, ending almost 30 years in operation. After closing the product to new investors on May… [Read More…]

Most NZ retail fund managers saw double-digit (or thereabouts) growth in assets last year, new data from Australian research house Plan for Life (PFL) reveals, largely on the back of buoyant markets. The PFL data shows Mercer recorded the highest proportional year-on-year growth over 2023 of more than 37 per cent during a period where… [Read More…]