Investment News

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has hired former Annuitas asset allocation manager, Keith Poore, in a fixed term position. Poore accepted an interim asset allocation strategist role at the $45 billion ACC fund after leaving Annuitas this January. His exit follows a senior leadership shake-up at the Wellington-based Annuitas including the resignation of veteran general… [Read More…]

NZX fund subsidiary, Smartshares, officially cracked the $10 billion threshold last week, folding in former Craigs Investment Partners manager, QuayStreet, into the mix with a promise of delivering an ‘enhanced passive’ strategy to the index-flavoured firm. According to the just-published NZX 2022 annual report, the $1.6 billion actively managed QuayStreet would “provide Smartshares, in time,… [Read More…]

Another exchange-traded fund (ETF) price skirmish has broken out in Australia with BetaShares reclaiming the low ground just days after an aggressive fee cut by BlackRock. BetaShares dropped the annual management fees on its flagship Australian shares index ETF last week by almost half to 0.04 per cent (from 0.07 per cent) in response to… [Read More…]

The ASX has come under renewed regulatory pressure after burning A$250 million on an aborted blockchain-based clearing and settlement replacement system. Following an expensive six-year effort to swap out its aging CHESS back-office software with a new-age digital version, the Australian stock exchange pulled the plug last November citing “significant technology, governance and delivery challenges”… [Read More…]

Fisher Funds has confirmed a management clean-out for Kiwi Wealth with chief executive, Rhiannon McKinnon, and three other senior executives to exit over the next few months. As well as McKinnon, other senior Kiwi Wealth leaders set to leave include: chief investment officer, Steffan Berridge; chief customer officer, Morne Redgard; and, chief technology officer, Craig… [Read More…]

More than 200 financial advisers remain missing-in-action just weeks before the full licensing regime goes live. Financial Markets Authority (FMA) chief, Samantha Barrass, told a parliamentary committee earlier this month that 440 advice firms operating under the current transitional rules had yet to apply for a full licence. She told the committee that perhaps 200… [Read More…]

The top three Australian bank-owned KiwiSaver providers continued to lose market share over 2022, according to the latest Morningstar review of the sector. New data shows industry leader, the triple-schemed ANZ, shed almost 1 per cent market share over the 12-month period to close out 2022 with 20.5 per cent (or $17.7 billion) of the… [Read More…]

AMP NZ saw net profits decline by almost 18 per cent in 2022 as poor investment markets overwhelmed steadying fund flow dynamics and margin improvements post the shift to BlackRock index funds. The NZ wealth management business net profit after tax last year fell to A$32 million last year from A$39 million while topline revenue… [Read More…]

ASB assets under management fell almost $2 billion last year as shaky markets exacted a toll on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)-owned funds business. According to the CBA six-monthly accounts released last week, total ASB funds under management (FUM) dropped 8 per cent over 2022, ending the year at almost $20.4 billion compared to… [Read More…]

Devon Funds portfolio manager, Victoria Harris, is to leave the firm in April following a two-year stint at the Auckland boutique to focus on her financial education start-up, The Curve. Harris joined Devon from Pie Funds in October 2020 where she also served two years in a portfolio management role. Pre-Pie she spent six years… [Read More…]