ANZ has finally signed off on its long-awaited agreement with BlackRock in a deal announced today (September 23).
The bank-owned fund manager will use BlackRock for “investment risk management and reporting services” including via the ubiquitous Aladdin platform.
In a statement, ANZ says: “… BlackRock will also manage the implementation of portfolio cashflow, foreign currency hedging and rebalancing.
“The accountability for these services and the overall performance outcomes continues to sit with the ANZ Investments team.”
Fiona Mackenzie, ANZ funds management head, said in the release that the firm “remained committed to active management”.
Last August ANZ flagged the tie-up with BlackRock as well as a yet-to-be-confirmed agreement with Mercer.
BlackRock now either advises or provides underlying funds management services to ANZ, ASB and AMP: collectively, the three firms manage over $40 billion of KiwiSaver money, or about a third of the total retirement savings pool.
Meanwhile, AMP NZ has kicked off its previously flagged private equity climate fund with a $28 million allocation to a strategy run by BlackRock, further cementing ties with the US investment giant.
Last week, AMP awarded BlackRock a $750 million or so active-like mandate to replace ANZ as a third-party manager in its KiwiSaver and NZ Retirement Trust (NZRT) employer superannuation schemes.
BlackRock already manages most of the approximately $12 billion in the AMP NZ investment book via index strategies following a 2021 agreement.
Officially launched late 2023, the wholesale AMP Global Climate Fund went live last week with an investment in a BlackRock-managed vehicle targeting clean energy infrastructure.
The BlackRock Global Renewable Power Fund IV currently holds stakes in two underlying solar companies, Reducurrent Energy and Enviria, based in Canada and Germany, respectively.
Under the arrangement, AMP KiwiSaver, NZRT and managed fund investors would all have some exposure to the new climate strategy, which is expected to quickly triple in size.
Aaron Klee, AMP general manager investment management and services, said in a release: “In this initial investment phase, AMP has committed to invest about NZ$75 million in global private markets and is looking to double that amount in New Zealand-based renewable energy infrastructure, which we hope to be able to announce by year end.”
The AMP climate fund could reach up to $500 million within a few years, Klee said.
Last year the-then Labour-led NZ government inked an agreement with BlackRock to establish a “first of its kind climate infrastructure fund”, targeting up to $2 billion raised from private and public investors.
Megan Woods, the former Energy and Resources Minister, said in a statement at the time: “The New Zealand net zero Fund will look to crowd in investment from Crown companies and entities, including superannuation funds, and private sector funds to accelerate New Zealand’s transition to 100% renewable electricity.”
While the mooted government-supported climate fund has yet to surface, BlackRock named Will Thomson as its first NZ hire in May with a brief to source “climate infrastructure investment opportunities and managing the diligence, structuring, and closing of transactions in New Zealand”.
As at the end of June this year, BlackRock reported about US$10.4 trillion in assets under management across the world.