Investment News

The NZX has killed off the short-lived Apteryx brand opting to rename the investment platform NZX Wealth Technologies. Known as Amadeus Asset Administration from 2011 until July 2014, the Apteryx platform was previously owned by parties associated with hedge fund multi-manager NZAM. Amadeus originally launched in 2006 under the NZAM Administration label. However, the NZX… [Read More…]

Robo-advice and blockchain innovations will out-disrupt peer-to-peer and crowd-funding platforms over the long term, a new global survey of CFA members has found. The survey of more than 3,800 CFA members worldwide found 40 per cent of respondents tipped robo-advice as having the most impact on financial services in five years time. A further 30… [Read More…]

Asset allocation has made little difference to headline results for the average KiwiSaver fund since the scheme’s inception in 2007, according to the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) investment survey. “All funds, with their risk profiles differing from growth to conservative, have similar results which is interesting given that the period includes the share market… [Read More…]

Australian-headquartered property group, Vinta, will launch its first NZ open-ended wholesale fund this quarter after clearing a final regulatory hurdle. In March the Overseas Investments Office (OIO) approved plans to tip the group’s three Wellington commercial property assets – currently held by Vinta subsidiary Talavera Property – into the proposed new fund. Michael Holloway, Vinta… [Read More…]

BlackRock has cut the management fee on two of its most popular ETFs in the package launched last week as a ‘core’ offering designed for new investors to the ETF market. Jon Howie, the head of iShares Australia, said that in ‘Act I’, relatively sophisticated investors used iShares, with about 50 per cent of them… [Read More…]

AMP Capital and BetaShares have formed an alliance to launch a range of active ETFs. This follows the success of the launch late last year of Magellan’s global active ETF and, according to BetaShares, marks the new generation of exchange-traded products (ETPs). AMP Capital and BetaShares will launch the first three ETPs under their alliance on the ASX over… [Read More…]

An economic slowdown in Asia is considered the biggest systemic risk facing the broad economy, according to some of the world’s major banks and other financial institutions in the latest survey conducted by DTCC. This is a big shift from the same survey only six months ago. DTCC (the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation) is… [Read More…]

Iconic NZ financial advice brand, Spicers, could be consigned to history as owner AMP Financial Services moves to rationalise its distribution network. Blair Vernon, AMP director of advice and sales, told Investment News NZ (IN NZ), Spicers and sister advisory firm, AdviceFirst, would merge under a single management structure. “Following a strategic review of market… [Read More…]

Banks have mounted an all-out attack on Financial Advisers Act (FAA) reform proposals to clearly distinguish ‘sales’ from ‘advice’ setting themselves at odds with industry bodies and consumers. Despite considerable nuance in their respective submissions on the FAA ‘Options Paper’ published last week by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the big four… [Read More…]

ASB has exported its investment administration back to Australia as well as implementing a raft of other fund changes to the group’s $7 billion plus fund business. In just-published documents for its KiwiSaver, Easyfunds and Superannuation Master Trust products, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia-owned ASB confirmed the group has dumped NZ entity Sovereign in favour… [Read More…]