Former van Eyk Rsearch chief, Mark Thomas, has copped a permanent ban from involvement in the financial services sector in a decision handed down by the Australian corporate regulator last week. Thomas was sentenced to a 15-month jail-term last November for his part in a convoluted illegal loan transfer from a NZ fund to an… [Read More…]
Investment News
Nikko global fund readies for cycle change as slow turn ahead
The global economy has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of hyper-fast interest rate increases over the last 18 months but Iain Fulton, Nikko Asset Management global equities investment director, said some kind of slowdown still seems likely. “Higher rates will eventually have an effect but we’re cautiously optimistic about where economies go from here,”… [Read More…]
Bubble tech: why investors shouldn’t punt their AI chips on Nvidia
Smart beta pioneer, Rob Arnott, has called out the Nvidia share price as too big to succeed despite strong fundamentals for the AI chip king. In a typically history-based takedown, Arnott – along with Research Affiliates (RAFI) colleagues, Chris Brightman and Thomas Verghese – says in a note that the Nvidia narrative mirrors the turn-of-the-century… [Read More…]
Natural investor: First Sentier plants trees, water in portfolio planning
First Sentier Investors (FSI) has laid out a five-step plan to embed natural metrics into institutional portfolios. In a new guide released last week, the global fund house owned by the Japanese Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) offers institutional investors a logical framework for analysing and acting on nature-related portfolio risks with a focus on… [Read More…]
Mercer offers portfolio tips for polycrisis preppers
Markets are calm; too calm, maybe. In the wake of the cross-asset rout of 2022, investor return expectations are “at their highest in years”, according to a recent Mercer paper. But optimistic market assumptions about a return to business-as-usual following the savage correction in shares and bonds last year might be misplaced. “… it is… [Read More…]
Another big manager climb boards the alts express
The US$1.27 trillion global investment manager PGIM has brought together its alternatives units in a sign of their growing use by its biggest clients. PGIM has consolidated its alternatives units and appointed current real estate boss Eric Adler to head it up as it looks to shop a range of capabilities – including private credit,… [Read More…]
NZ growth prompts BlackRock office expansion plans
BlackRock is due to make landfall in NZ by the end of this year with a new Auckland office slated for the global investment mega-manager. It is understood the firm could ultimately employ up to 10 staff in an Auckland base to service a growing investment clientele this side of the Tasman. However, BlackRock does… [Read More…]
Pie re-re-opens Australasian small caps funds
Pie Funds has put its flagship Australasian small cap funds back on the shelves again after ‘hard-closing’ the core strategies several years ago. The Australasian Growth and Growth 2 funds are now accepting money from both new and existing investors, undoing locks put in place in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Both funds, along with others… [Read More…]
KiwiSaver breaks $100bn barrier
New Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) figures show KiwiSaver topped the $100 billion mark in the June quarter, hitting the milestone 16 years after the regime launched in mid 2007. Total KiwiSaver funds under management (FUM) landed just under $100.8 billion as at June 30 or an increase of 3.7 per cent for the quarter… [Read More…]
Toi rearranges Fisher ownership; Trust South goes (slightly) south
Fisher Funds ownership has been repackaged in a new entity following the Kiwi Wealth takeover, according to the Toi Foundation report released last week. Toi, which owns two-thirds of Fisher, notes equity in the now $20 billion plus fund manager have been shifted to a stand-alone holding company, FFML TopCo. Until December last year Taranaki-based… [Read More…]