The mid tier funds market globally is facing an unprecedented squeeze, according to the latest Towers Watson/Pension & Investments survey of the world’s top 500 asset managers. In a statement, Luba Nikulina, global head of research at Towers Watson Investment, said the 2014 ‘World 500’ study found for the first time “asset growth at the… [Read More…]
Investment News
Why the cost of data has become an asset
After 20 years in the data business, Marion Leslie of Thomson Reuters says that the big change in recent times is that costs associated with data collection and management are now being turned into an asset. Thank you ‘big data’. Leslie, the managing director of Thomson Reuters’ global pricing and reference services business, said on… [Read More…]
AMP resigns FSC as rules change
AMP has resigned its membership of the Financial Services Council (FSC) in the wake of rule changes instituted by the industry body last year. It is understood at least one other marquee member has handed in its notice to the FSC. Under new rules promulgated last October, the FSC upped the notice period from three… [Read More…]
IRD favours fund fees to go GST-free
The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has ruled fund management fees should be GST-free, according to a leaked document. As reported by Investment News NZ (IN NZ) last week, the GST on fees issue was expected to go out for public consultation in December. But in the draft proposal obtained by IN NZ, the IRD concludes… [Read More…]
NZX taps PIMCO, Nikko for new ETF mandates
PIMCO has picked up $120 million in seed money as manager for the soon-to-be-launched Smartshares new global fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETF). According to offer documents for the Smartshares Global Bond Trust, the NZX-owned ETF operator would tip in “an initial deposit of $120 million in cash” to fire up the fund, due for lift-off… [Read More…]
Link prices Aon deal, migration scheduled for October 2016 end
Link Group has budgeted A$700,000 to absorb the Aon NZ fund administration business, according to the Australian-based firm’s listing prospectus. The Link prospectus identifies the Aon NZ move as its first foray into fund administration outside its home base of Australia, predicting the “business combination” would have “minimal forecast earnings impact in FY2016”. “… the… [Read More…]
Deutsche, Goldman spark trans-Tasman drift
Dozens of local financial services roles could be heading across the Tasman following the closure of two global bank-owned NZ operations in the space of a fortnight. In total almost 50 NZ jobs were at threat after Deutsche Bank shut its NZ arm last week, barely days after Goldman Sachs announced it would wind up… [Read More…]
Deutsche Boerse puts fintech buzz into 360T
Long before the word ‘fintech’ entered the popular vernacular, a small group of young traders and technologists, including Australian Mathew Kuppe, started a multi-bank FX matching system in Germany. They now have the backing of the big German exchange, Deutsche Boerse, and 725 million reasons to smile. The purchase of 360T by Deutsche Boerse for… [Read More…]
Big notes for investors: fund managers tune in to market themes
US interest rates, rising sovereign debt and the reality (or not) of a China crisis were the three themes accompanying most current investment decisions, according to James McDonald, Hunter Hall portfolio manager. McDonald, presenting this week at the Investment Store New Zealand roadshow, said fund managers couldn’t ignore the three big economic notes, which were… [Read More…]
Distressed debt opportunities expand ahead of Fed’s squeeze
Corporate credit markets are suffering a lot of dislocation and, therefore, offering many opportunities, especially in the US and Europe. A confluence of factors is presenting a favourable environment for opportunistic distressed debt, according to PIMCO’s Sai Devabhaktuni. Devabhaktuni, a PIMCO executive vice president and head of distressed corporate debt portfolio management at Newport Beach… [Read More…]