Investment News

The Financial Services Council (FSC) is recruiting for a new chair following the resignation of long-time incumbent, Rob Flannagan. Flannagan will end his almost nine-year reign as FSC chair in December, leaving the industry body on a high after a tumultuous introduction to the job in 2015. The former Tower NZ group head took on… [Read More…]

Investors in Chinese bonds should be prepared for increased volatility ahead as idiosyncratic risks spike higher, Salt Funds Management warns in a new analysis. The note – penned by Salt economist, Bevan Graham, and head of global diversified funds, Greg Fleming – says under-pressure debt markets in China could unwind in binary fashion as authorities… [Read More…]

Cash yields of 5 per cent have been a “beautiful thing” but investors need to look beyond the short-time, good-time allure now for longer-term fixed income returns, a new Wellington Management paper argues. The Wellington analysis found bonds significantly outperformed cash in every three-year period after the last interest rate rise in all US Federal… [Read More…]

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has put NZ derivative issuers on notices following a regulatory crackdown on the sector across the Tasman. In its latest monthly update, the FMA says a spate of “recent class actions filed in Australia alleging misleading and deceptive conduct in the supply of derivatives” highlights similar issues facing providers of… [Read More…]

Global index giant, MSCI, has hooked-up with Google to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) investment risk management system. Under a deal announced last week, MSCI will use Google Cloud technology including the Vertex AI platform and climate data tools such as BigQuery Geospatial and Earth Engine, to build services that help “clients better manage portfolio… [Read More…]

The NZX has called off a prospective sale, or equity partnership, of its Wealth Technologies investment platform citing significant client growth potential and a path to profitability for the cash-hungry business by next year. In a statement released along with the group’s half-year results last week, the NZX says it “did consider whether there was… [Read More…]

The adviser-linked Aurora KiwiSaver has rejigged its investment options, closing one fund while opening up two strategies and implementing a new multi-manager panel for the diversified options. Sold via the related Aurora advisory network, the $170 million KiwiSaver scheme has wound up the Future Focused fund, which held about $44 million prior to the close…. [Read More…]

Dan Mead has moved from AMP NZ to the Medical Assurance Society (MAS) as investment manager. MAS has been recruiting for a new head of investments for a few months to replace Colin Thomson, who stepped down to a specialist advisory role in the business last year. Mead was a senior portfolio manager for the… [Read More…]

Rātā Foundation and Trust Waikato have kicked off the community trust reporting season with more-or-less flat investment returns, booking a minor win and a small loss, respectively. The Christchurch-based Rātā was up almost 3 per cent for the year as the Mercer-advised portfolio added more than $13.8 million to trust coffers compared to 7.3 per cent (almost… [Read More…]

BlackRock support for shareholder proposals targeting environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors dropped from almost half to just 7 per cent over the two years ending June 30. According to the latest annual BlackRock investment stewardship report, the world’s largest fund manager backed 26 out of 399 ESG-related shareholder proposals it voted on during the… [Read More…]