Investment News

Financial Services Council (FSC) chief, Richard Klipin, formally ends his seven-year stint heading the industry body this week with a short break between his next gig in Australia. Klipin takes over as CEO of the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) in Australia on May 27. He joined the FSC as chief in 2016 at a… [Read More…]

Private markets could be almost on par with listed assets in institutional investor portfolios before the end of this decade, according to a new State Street study. The third annual State Street global poll of 480 institutions on private markets allocations found the proportion of respondents holding more than half of their portfolios in the… [Read More…]

Liquid alternatives offer investors the best hope of generating excess returns as interest rates linger at the high-water market, according to a new study by quant manager, AQR. The report published in April edition of The Journal of Portfolio Management found most asset classes have historically struggled to rise above a “higher cash-rate tide”. “All… [Read More…]

ANZ Investments is to close down its roughly $3 billion wholesale funds business by the end of August amid client attrition and a flagged shake-up of the group’s retail and KiwiSaver proposition. In a note this morning, ANZ told clients it had made the “difficult decision to exit our Wholesale business”. According to the note,… [Read More…]

Mercer and Jarden (sort of) have missed out on reappointment to a previously shared $150 million mandate with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC). As reported last month, HBRC fielded six bids to manage a juiced-up risk portfolio after putting the council fund investments out to tender late in 2023 with Harbour Asset Management understood… [Read More…]

The BNZ investment business will operate as a division of Harbour Asset Management once the FirstCape deal closes this week, according to disclosure documents for the group’s inaugural product rollover under the new structure. Documents for the restated BNZ Term PIE reveal the BNZ Investment Services arm, which manages the bank’s KiwiSaver and other funds,… [Read More…]

Surging global share markets boosted returns for NZ investors during the first three months of 2024 with the vast majority of international equities managers in the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) survey racking up double-digit returns for the period. While fixed income, local shares and other asset classes delivered flat-to-middling results for the March quarter,… [Read More…]

KiwiSaver withdrawals hit an eight-year high this March as resurgent first-home drawdowns and record financial hardship exits saw providers pay-out almost $173 million. According to the latest Inland Revenue Department (IRD) statistics, the March 2024 first home/financial hardship withdrawal figure exceeds the previous peak of close to $172 million set in the same month three… [Read More…]

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has garnered mixed reviews for its new fund manager liquidity guide from a feedback group of just 12. In general, the FMA notes the submissions on the draft fund liquidity guidance published late last year fell under three areas of concern: clarity, certainty and implementability. “Some submitters sought word changes… [Read More…]

Māori values-based Australasian equities manager, Tahito, has landed an out-of-the-blue mandate from a US philanthropic fund. The US$500 million Christensen Fund, which backs indigenous people causes around the world, awarded Tahito an undisclosed allocation via implemented consulting service, Global Endowment Management (GEM). Following a prompt from the Christensen group, GEM “managed to locate” Tahito, according… [Read More…]