The KiwiSaver gender-linked savings gap has stabilised year-on-year, according to a new Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) analysis, while more retirees than ever are remaining as scheme members. In its third annual interrogation of granulated scheme data prepared for Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, MJW found male scheme members have on average a quarter more… [Read More…]
Investment News
Pathfinder joins the 1 percenters with new charity model
Pathfinder has reset its charitable giving policy with donations switching from the previous 20 per cent of KiwiSaver fees to 1 per cent of annual revenue of the entire fund suite. “From 1 April this year, we have been dedicating 1% of revenue from across our whole business (this covers all our retail managed funds… [Read More…]
Local fintechs to trim sails in funding lull ahead of open-banking breeze
NZ ‘fintech’ firms will face belt-tightening pressure amid an investment drought that saw a massive funding slump in 2023, the latest annual review of the sector suggests. The 2024 report released last week by research group, Technology Investment Network (TIN), shows the local market attracted just $20.5 million of new investor money last year in… [Read More…]
New equity allocations on the radar of optimistic asset allocators
The post-Covid years have been marked by significant uncertainty for markets generated by central banks’ attempts to unwind extraordinary monetary policy – and the inflation it was partly responsible for creating – with a minimum of damage. But with 2024 starting on a high note and a potential transition from a sustained regime of interest… [Read More…]
Why the market’s ‘endless summer’ can’t last
It’s unusual for markets to experience decades of stability, Jonathan Ruffer writes in his latest investment review, and there’s no reason to believe that stability can (or should) last. That’s because a number of emergent novelties threaten to upset the equilibrium, including the rise of passive investing (“a great idea” that has “become a force… [Read More…]
There is no alternative: why AI is a must-have tool for investment analysts…
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) has opened up a rich vein of new analytical techniques but investment professionals will have to upskill to mine the digital gold, according to a new CFA Institute paper. Carrying the catchy title ‘Unstructured Data and AI: Fine-Tuning LLMs to Enhance the Investment Process’, the report – authored by Brian… [Read More…]
… and how regulators plan to round-up the runaway tech
Artificial intelligence (AI) might be galloping away at break-neck speed but authorities can still rein in the techno-beast, chair of the Australian financial regulator told an industry gathering last week. Speaking at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) hosted event, Joe Longo, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chair, said that while “generative AI technology… [Read More…]
Post-NAS, BNP expects ‘much more intense competition’
The chief of BNP Paribas’ local securities services division expects that a decade of heated competition will follow that seen with the exit of NAB Asset Servicing, with custody banks leveraging their offshore footprints and private markets capabilities in the fight for new business. NAB Asset Servicing’s (NAS) decision to head for the exit in… [Read More…]
NZ Super trends up with almost $1.5bn of new mandates
The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) has made half-a-dozen fresh investments over the previous few months across an eclectic range of strategies including decarbonising private equity, US timber, data centre venture capital, quant trend-follower and a life science specialist. According a NZS communiqué last week, the now $74 billion sovereign fund biggest new mandate went to… [Read More…]
Stobo to chair as FMA enters new era
NZ investment industry veteran, Craig Stobo, has begun a five-year term chairing the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) under changed riding orders from the new government. Stobo was named last week to replace Mark Todd, who completed a nine-year run on the FMA board – the last five as chair – at the end of April…. [Read More…]