Australia-based global equities manager, Munro Partners, has formally opened a portfolio investment entity (PIE) vehicle for wholesale NZ clients.
Hosted by Adminis, the Munro Global Growth Climate Leaders PIE, invests into a concentrated portfolio of stocks expected to “enable or benefit from the decarbonisation of the planet”, according to fund documents.
It is understood the fund has been seeded by a KiwiSaver provider.
Speaking at the Financial Advice NZ (FANZ) conference last week, Kieran Moore, Munro portfolio manager, said the investment strategy was centred on identifying companies positioned to grow in sectors facing “structural changes”.
Moore highlighted “climate and decarbonisation” as one of the key themes for growth-focused investors with the PIE fund targeting four ‘sub-trends’ of energy efficiency, clean transport, circular economy and clean energy.
Established in 2016, Munro has A$5.8 billion under management – including A$700 million or so sourced from Canada via distribution partner, GSFM – across seven funds.
Munro has priced the PIE at an annual fee of 0.9 per cent with buy/sell spreads of 0.15 per cent. Adminis is custodian and administrator while Guardian Trust takes on supervisor responsibilities.
The Munro product is the second wholesale PIE issued by Adminis as fund-host, following the launch of another concentrated global equities strategy for NZ investors managed by boutique Australian firm, GCQ, this February. Trustees Executors is supervisor for the GCQ fund.
But the Australian manager PIE-rush has accelerated this year after both Pella – also offering a sustainable-flavoured international shares strategy – and listed global property specialist, Resolution Capital, released FundRock NZ-hosted products.
Like Munro, Pella has reportedly been seeded by a KiwiSaver provider to ease its entry into NZ.
Meanwhile, the Australian boutique (now owned by Antipodes) Maple-Brown Abbott, is also rolling out a global listed infrastructure PIE: both Maple-Brown Abbott and Resolution manage large mandates for ANZ Investments.
Earlier this year, JP Morgan Asset Management entered the PIE game, too, with the release of a global bond fund hosted by FundRock.
The 2025 PIE spike follows a strong, multi-year pipeline of fund products built for NZ tax settings.
Chris Douglas, Māpua Wealth principal, told FANZ delegates that 129 PIEs had hit the market over the last few years until the end of 2024.