Investment News

Tokenising every managed fund in the world could unlock about US$100 billion in annual returns for investors and US$400 billion of trading opportunities for managers, a new Boston Consulting Group (BCG) paper suggests. “Once up and running, tokenized funds offer advantages to investors including 24/7 second­ary transfers and fractionalization, a lower threshold for investing, and… [Read More…]

Geopolitical unrest and government interference are weighing heavily on the minds of big investors, according to a bfinance survey of 311 senior investment personnel from institutions responsible for more than US$7 trillion in assets. The bursting of the AI bubble was cited by investors in Japan and Australia as the “greatest threat” to achieving their… [Read More…]

Craigs Investment Partners has scotched rumours reported by Australian press last week about a pending sale to fund distribution group, Ironbark Asset Management. The Australian newspaper claimed Ironbark was to “buy into” Craigs, which runs the largest investment advisory network in NZ by assets under management. “We are not in talks with Ironbank and we… [Read More…]

Milford has opened up a new advisory branch in Havelock North, hiring Michelle Roberts from ANZ private bank to front the wealth management service in the region. Roberts finished an almost 10 year stint as a financial adviser for the ANZ private banking arm in Hawke’s Bay in November. Previously, she spent two years on… [Read More…]

The NZ managed funds sector soared through the $300 billion threshold during the September quarter after a solid three-month period lifted annual growth to 14.4 per cent. New Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) data shows the local funds management market topped out at $307.1 billion on September 30 with KiwiSaver accounting for about $122.6 billion,… [Read More…]

US regulators have laid formal fraud charges against former Western Asset Management (WAMCO) co chief investment officer, Ken Leech. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York are pursuing Leech through separate legal channels over sweetheart trading deals at the global fixed income powerhouse during… [Read More…]

Large asset owners will need to develop a new risk management approach amid increasingly fraught political and investment conditions, according to a new Thinking Ahead Institute (TAI) study. The TAI ‘Asset Owner 100’ report says “today’s complex, interconnected risks” such as geopolitical tensions, climate change, inequality and other systemic problems require a more holistic asset… [Read More…]

Global investment managers remain in recruitment mode for environmental, social and governance (ESG) staff despite a growing political kickback against the process in the US. The 10th annual Russell Investments fund manager survey found while the “hiring boom for ESG professionals has slowed”, most of the 225 firms polled were still hiring-up for specialists in… [Read More…]

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been panned as ‘incompetent’ and ‘defective’ in a damning report tabled by a cross-parliament committee last week that calls for sweeping changes in the regulator. After sifting through evidence from 174 submissions, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Investment Fraud & Fairer Financial Services found the FCA was… [Read More…]

Liquidity-soaked bond and share traders have never had it so good but apparent still waters obscure the growing risk of destructive rogue waves, a new academic paper suggests. The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) study found bid-ask spreads in various asset classes have narrowed consistently over time, implying improved liquidity and trading conditions. But the… [Read More…]