Investment News

Political meddling in US fund manager decisions continued apace last week after attorneys general of 17 states signed a letter slamming BlackRock and five other firms over poor disclosure and “misrepresentations” of Chinese investments. In the letter sent to BlackRock, State Street, Invesco, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, the state legal chiefs allege the… [Read More…]

Global pension funds have ratcheted up exposure to alternatives while developing more nuanced strategies around the previous catch-all asset designation. According to the just-published Thinking Ahead Institute (TAI) survey of the sector, the largest global pension investors increased allocations to alternative assets from 13 per cent in 2004 to about 20 per cent by the… [Read More…]

Flows into green-flavoured investment funds are highly sensitive to climate change media coverage trends, according to a new academic study. The paper released by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) this month found “heightening climate news results in significantly larger capital inflows into green funds versus their non-green counterparts”. In an analysis that also compared… [Read More…]

In a surprise role-reversal, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is encouraging advisory firms to ease back on over-zealous compliance practices that could be stifling the sector. FMA chief, Samantha Barrass, told a Financial Services Council (FSC) briefing last week that the regulator’s “monitoring of financial advice providers has continued to evolve, focusing on what compliance… [Read More…]

KiwiSaver provider, Aurora Capital, has made a leadership change with two former Fisher Fund executives joining the fast-growing scheme while incumbent general manager, Ian Coates, departs. Sharon Mackay and Marcus Wild – respectively, Aurora chief executive officer and chief client officer – were culled from Fisher last July under a C-suite clean-out engineered by new… [Read More…]

ASB solidified its number two ranking in the KiwiSaver market by the end of last year, pulling ahead of the Fisher Funds collective while closing the gap on market leader, ANZ. The latest quarterly Morningstar KiwiSaver report shows the single ASB scheme held more than $18.3 billion as at December 31 compared to a little… [Read More…]

Morningstar has lined up a new batch of candidates for its NZ fund manager of the year awards that once again excludes an international shares category. The research house has named Milford, Harbour and Mint as finalists for the overall fund manager of the year gong that was taken out last year by the NZX… [Read More…]

Pathfinder parent, Alvarium, is hiring for a new chief investment officer (CIO) to replace interim incumbent, Wayne Ross. Ross took over CIO duties at the diversified financial services firm last February following the exit of Pathfinder co-founder, Paul Brownsey. In its recruitment blurb, Alvarium says after making “several high-profile senior appointments in recent years”, the… [Read More…]

As the search for higher yields intensifies in today’s relatively low-rate environment, investment professionals are increasingly drawn to non-traditional fixed interest products to meet the income needs of their clients. Heathcote Investment Partners founder, Clayton Coplestone, explains why ‘exotic’ fixed income strategies also come with non-traditional risks…   High-yield bonds, leveraged loans, collateralised loan obligations… [Read More…]

Global investors have overwhelmingly favoured fixed income strategies since 2019 as measured by net transaction flows gushing through the pipes of fund network firm Calastone. According to a new analysis by the back-office technology provider, bond funds have attracted more cash during the six years to the end of 2024 than “all other asset classes… [Read More…]