Financial Services Council (FSC) chair, Rob Flannagan, has gone into overtime to steer the industry body into its next innings. Flannagan was due to exit the FSC board at the end of last year but has agreed to extend his nine-year stay at the crease until the organisation anoints a new captain. “In light of… [Read More…]
Investment News
MyFiduciary finds sustainable PIEs are hot (and models are cool)
Fund managers shipped almost 50 portfolio investment entity (PIE) products to the NZ market over the last three years with about 60 per cent stamped as sustainable or the like, according to a MyFiduciary analysis. Chris Douglas, MyFiduciary principal, told delegates at the Kernel adviser seminar earlier this month that 27 of the recent batch… [Read More…]
Watch out for tourist investors and me-too managers in private markets: Mercer
In private debt, you win by not losing, and key to not losing is good manager selection. But with a massive number of ‘me too’ players entering the market, that’s getting harder. Private debt’s ‘Goldilocks moment’ has seen a massive uptick in inflows as big investors try to lock in equity-like returns for a fraction… [Read More…]
BlackRock backs gold, liquid alts for new market regime
The smart money at the US$10 trillion asset manager is in hedge funds, gold and inflation-linked bonds, while local investors in its exchange-traded products are bargain hunting in China. Hedge funds have been a big winner in BlackRock’s multi-asset portfolios, and a volatile new market regime should create even more opportunities for them to outperform,… [Read More…]
How many Fishers can a Fisher Funds front?
Fisher Funds is to rename its Kiwi Wealth products as… Fisher Funds funds. In a note to clients last week, the Takapuna-based manager confirmed the approximately $6.5 billion Kiwi Wealth KiwiSaver scheme will be relabelled as the Fisher Funds KiwiSaver Plan (FFKP) as of March 6. The well-flagged rebrand will see the manager hosting three… [Read More…]
National-led administration to ‘proactively consider’ crypto proposals
The NZ government has responded to a 112-page parliamentary select committee cryptocurrency booster report with a three-pager – including one title page. In a response handed down last week, the government says it “wishes to support growth in the digital assets industry and will continue to proactively consider the recommendations in the report”. While acknowledging… [Read More…]
FirstCape readies for May launch (some assembly required)
Jarden shareholders will vote next week on a sale and merger proposal that is almost certainly a done deal. Under the arrangement forged last month with the National Australia Bank (NAB) and Australian private equity firm, Pacific Equity Partners, Jarden will emerge with a 20 per cent stake in the new FirstCape entity and close… [Read More…]
Morningstar Australasia fund research lead to go; Kiwi Wealth veterans rock up at rebranded SBS Wealth; NZ Super chair departure heralds board refresh; Vanguard chief retires; de Ferrari leaves UBS
Morningstar Australia has lost another key fund research executive following the departure of Annika Bradley last week. Bradley served as Morningstar manager research ratings Asia-Pacific since July 2021 with responsibilities covering the NZ and Australian fund markets. She joins mega Australian industry superannuation fund, UniSuper, in the newly created role of senior manager, investment specialist… [Read More…]
S&P data shows average NZ active manager outperforms (but only the survivors)
The median NZ shares fund manager outperformed the index after fees over all periods up to 15 years covered in a new S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&PDJI) report. According to the S&PDJI ‘SPIVA’ Australia scorecard, the subset of NZ domestic equity managers – included formally for the first time in the researcher’s index v active… [Read More…]
Yearbook looks back, sees lower returns ahead in never-ending journey
Core financial assets will likely provide lower long-term returns for the next generation of investors even as performance expectations have improved somewhat in recent times, according to the latest Global Investment Returns Yearbook, Now in its 25th edition, the famous historical financial markets performance study notes that forecast long-run returns from equities and bonds for… [Read More…]