Smartshares head of institutional, David Buell, is to join Fisher Funds next month as general manager growth – one of three senior roles the $25 billion firm created to carry the weight of its most recent acquisition, Kiwi Wealth. At the same time, former Mint Asset Management head of marketing, David Boyle, has been hired as Fisher general manager KiwiSaver.
Buell took on the position at Smartshares only this February after joining the NZX as part of the group’s QuayStreet purchase last year.
He served as QuayStreet head of distribution for about five years before the ownership transition. Previously, Buell spent almost six years at AMP Capital NZ in sales roles following a three-year stint at Russell Investments.
Boyle spent about five years at Mint before leaving earlier this year after a stint at the Retirement Commission and a long career at ANZ.
Both new hires start at Fisher on September 9.
Last week Fisher revealed several executive-level changes under new boss, Simon Power, as well as a couple of hires to establish a private equity division in the investment team.
Michael Walmsley and Jennifer Chee are set to join the business as head of private markets, and, investment associate, respectively, ahead of a stand-alone fund launch in the asset class.
Fisher chief investment officer, Ashley Gardyne, said the yet-to-be-formed private equity vehicle would receive a “small allocation” from the manager’s three KiwiSaver schemes.
“We will also create opportunities for individual clients to invest directly,” Gardyne said.
“The strategy hasn’t been seeded yet and this will likely happen later in the year when the team is on board.”
Walmsley and Chee – both arriving at Fisher from Jarden – will work on a private equity strategy targeting NZ companies across multiple sectors in a valuation range of $30 million to $80 million.
The incoming Fisher private equity head has led the Jarden principal investments business for the last seven years following various roles for Macquarie in Sydney and London. Chee spent two years as a direct investments analyst at the NZ Superannuation Fund before joining Jarden in October 2022.
Fisher has a penchant for running most assets in-house although it does use some external managers including PIMCO for global fixed income.
Also last week Fisher reported total annual fee revenue above $200 million for the first time during the 12 months to March 31.
The results include the first full-year impact of the Kiwi Wealth business, which came into Fisher hands in November 2022.
According to the latest Fisher accounts, the company pulled in more than $203 million in fees (including almost $2.1 million in performance fees) over the 12-month period, rising to just above $205 million including interest and other income.
Fisher removed performance fees from its KiwiSaver and retail multi-asset funds as of July last year.
While the 2023/24 top-line figure exceeds the previous fee peak of over $199 million ($77 million of performance fees) achieved two years prior, the underlying profit is less than half the amount booked in that banner period.
The group reported profit after tax of $40 million for the most recent 12-month period – up about $15 million year-on-year but well below the almost $94 million figure inked in the 2022 accounts.
Ex Kiwi Wealth businesses contributed $23 million to the Fisher net profit after tax for the latest financial year, the report says, after a loss of $12 million in the 2022/23 period.
Total expenses hit close to $149 million for the 12 months to March 31, 2024, rising from almost $99.7 million last year and $63.8 million over the 2021/22 period.
Employee costs jumped more than 50 per cent to reach $62.9 million (2023: $40.4 million) while IT costs were up 150 per cent year-on-year at almost $16.8 million: fund expenses also increased to $11 million from $6 million the previous year.
Fisher spent $310 million to acquire Kiwi Wealth (funded via debt held by shareholders, Toi Foundation and TA Associates) and more than $30 million in 2021 to buy the Aon KiwiSaver and superannuation schemes: the group later sold the Aon super fund to Lifetime for $3.4 million).
The firm issued a dividend of $11 million in May this year followed by a $4.4 million pay-out to shareholders in June.