After a two-year zoom-fest for NZ financial advisers, Australia-based fund managers are set to return across the ditch for a series of live shows as the borders between the two countries reopen.
Heathcote Investment Partners principal, Clayton Coplestone, said the third-party fund distributor had booked all but two of its Australian clients (or prospects) for a five-city whistle-stop ‘Meet the Manager’ tour in May.
Coplestone said while web-enabled technology had kept the NZ advisory industry connected with offshore developments during the long COVID isolation period “nothing beats the opportunity to engage with investment managers in a live forum”.
“This has become even more essential due to the past few months of heightened market volatility,” he said in a release.
All vaccinated Australians and permanent residents will be able to travel to NZ from April 12 without having to hole-up for two weeks under the COVID managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) rules that have been in place from late March 2020.
About 230,000 people have been done time in the MIQ faciliites since the system was established, according to Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) data.
Traditionally half-day affairs, Coplestone said the May Heathcote events would follow an 8am to 5pm schedule to accommodate a greater range of offshore and local presenters.
“… we felt that it would be preferred by delegates to hear from a broad cross-section of speakers during a single day, rather than having to take portions of their day to attend smaller sessions,” he said. “That’s why we’ve extended the invitation to groups that may have otherwise been competing with us for industry attention around the same time.”
Of the Heathcote Australia-based invited managers, only Alphinity and Robeco were not able to attend this time around, Coplestone said, with a total of 14 presenters lined up.
As well as local manager, Castle Point, the Heathcote stable includes Allan Gray, APN, Capital Group, Daintree, Dundas, Fairlight, Janus Henderson, Maple-Brown Abbott and Premium.
The roadshow takes in the three main NZ cities as well as regional centres Tauranga and Napier over May 2-6.