Investment News

Paul Khoury, the new head of State Street Global Services for Australia and New Zealand, believes that the custodians which have invested in their systems, operating model and people over the past few years, when margins have been tighter than ever, will be the winners from the current pipeline of contract reviews. Khoury, who has… [Read More…]

The three major Crown Financial Institutions (CFIs) have hired a Canadian-headquartered fund manager to engage on their behalf with offshore firms on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Under an agreement finalised last week, BMO Global Asset Management will take on the company ESG engagement role previously carried out by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund… [Read More…]

Mint Asset Management has secured a $150 million New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) local equities mandate, partially filling the spot vacated last November by AMP Capital. After a drawn-out selection process, complicated further in April following the NZS decision to suspend Milford Asset Management from its $281 million local shares mandate, Mint was officially awarded… [Read More…]

The NZX capped a busy week last Friday with another foray into the funds management and financial advisory space, announcing a deal to buy the recently-rebranded investment administration platform, Apteryx. In a release revealing it had sold down its half-share in Australasian registry business Link Market Services for $13.8 million, the NZX said it had… [Read More…]

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) is searching for a new head of NZ direct investments following the resignation of incumbent, Michael Gleissner, last week. Gleissner, who joined NZS two years ago, “is leaving to focus on family commitments and consulting activities”, a spokesperson for the almost $30 billion fund said. Until a replacement is… [Read More…]

Nikko Asset Management NZ experienced the largest proportional growth in retail funds during the 12 months to March 31 this year, according to Australian actuarial and research house, Plan for Life. The Plan for Life figures, released last week, show Nikko grew its retail funds under management (FUM) by almost 152 per cent over the… [Read More…]

Michael Coop, longstanding senior consultant at Ibbotson Associates and its predecessor Intech, who was most recently head of multi-asset strategies, has returned to the UK to take up a job with an insurance company. Kevin Wan Lum, who was head of Australian equities, has also left to go to Vic Super. But five new faces… [Read More…]

Former Russell Investments head of consulting, Daniel Mussett, has launched a new business targeting wholesale investors. Mussett, who resigned from Russell last year, said his recently-formed ALSA Consulting already has three clients signed up, including two government agencies and a not-for-profit trust. “And I am currently in negotiations with a few other investors,” he said…. [Read More…]

Despite a multi-year bull run and sky-high valuations, equities will become the go-to asset class for most investors over the next few years, according to a new report. The study, produced by UK-based researcher Create in association with Principal Global Investors (PGI), found over 70 per cent of the 705 international fund managers, pension funds… [Read More…]

In an interesting deviation from conventional thinking, there appear to be more fintech start-ups targeting incumbent financial institutions as buyers of their inventions than there are those who want to become genuine disruptors in the marketplace, according to a senior research analyst with Martin Currie Australia. Matt Davison, the financial analyst at Martin Currie in… [Read More…]