In a deal consummated months ago, insurance giant AIA NZ last week confirmed Smartshares in a $500 million mandate to manage its legacy investment-linked products. It is understood that the NZX-owned investment house replaced a range of third-party managers appointed under the auspices of ASB with the money hitting Smartshares accounts as early as January…. [Read More…]
Investment News
Nature follows climate with new financial-reporting standards
After a two-year consultation process the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has issued a final set of 14 recommendations intended to corral capital in fight against environmental degradation. Modelled on the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the TNFD framework aims “to inform better decision making by companies and capital providers, and ultimately contribute… [Read More…]
NZ alternative funds get five-year benchmark-free relief rollover
Licensed NZ fund managers marketing alternative asset funds can breathe easier for another five years after a regulatory exemption providing benchmark relief was rolled over again – and extended for ‘single asset’ products such as cryptocurrency. In a release last week, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) confirmed the index exemption rule for certain non-standard licensed… [Read More…]
What’s on the tin: US regulator expands fund name, portfolio match rules to value, growth and beyond
US fund managers will have to more closely align investment portfolios with product names under new rules approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. The SEC update bundles entire new classes of product titles including value, growth, thematic and ESG into existing requirements for broadly named funds (fixed income or country-based, for… [Read More…]
Back-end blockchain bulls push for joint industry effort to transform ‘sub-scale’ digital asset market
The digital asset revolution will not be decentralised, according to a new paper produced by three global financial market back-office behemoths. In an “unprecedented” collaboration between the US-based DTCC and two European securities settlement and clearing firms – Clearstream and Euroclear – the report says blockchain-based efficiencies can only be realised via globally agreed standards… [Read More…]
India rises: most populous nation readies for time in the sun
In April this year the UN people people revealed a momentous change in the world order as India nudged aside China for title of the most populous nation on the planet. John Wilmoth, UN Population Division director, revealed the statistically precise forecast that India was on track to house 1,425,775,850 people by the end of… [Read More…]
US-based brokers pinged in ASIC platform push
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) pinged two trading platforms last week, fining one US-headquartered online sharebroker and setting up a court battle with a crypto exchange. In a case dating back to 2021, ASIC slammed the Australian arm of US online securities trading service, Interactive Brokers, for negligence in not identifying a suspicious transaction… [Read More…]
Small schemes put on weight as KiwiSaver hits 16
Start-up KiwiSaver schemes accrued about 1.3 per cent of market share, or about $1.2 billion since the 2018 year, the latest Investment News NZ annual survey of the sector shows. The free ‘Vote KiwiSaver’ report shows the 10 schemes launched since 2018 have signed-up about 40,000 members between them, again equating to roughly 1.2 per… [Read More…]
Macro, factors, unlisted assets weigh on returns as NZ Super just misses benchmark
Active management bets didn’t quite get the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) above benchmark during the 12 months to June 30 as a few key strategies reversed direction in the period, according to outgoing chief executive, Matt Whineray. Whineray said the $65 billion fund saw an almost opposite year-on-year outcome from some of its active exposures… [Read More…]
Sustainalytics cuts, UK fund flow-downs signal ESG trend reversal
The hot environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment market appears to have gone off the boil with two pieces of news last week highlighting a relative cooling-off period for the sector – in retail at least. As reported by Reuters, Morningstar is on track to lay off more than 200 staff at its ESG research… [Read More…]