Specialist fund services firm Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS) has hired a new head of operations from a fellow Wellington-based business.
Clayton Adams, client services manager for BNP Paribas Securities Services NZ since 2015, has taken on the IIS role with incumbent, Stephen Rivers, set to depart for Kiwi Wealth.
IIS managing director, Anthony Edmonds, said Adams would be responsible for operations across the group’s fast-growing fund-hosting business and the direct-to-consumer InvestNow platform.
“Clayton not only has an incredible strong background in operations, he has also has experience as a derivatives and money market dealing,” Edmonds said.
Prior to joining BNP Paribas Adams spent over a decade in London with Henderson Global Investors (HGI) – firstly running its hedge fund operations before moving on to head the manager’s forex and money market dealing division.
He also was a project manager in NZ for AMP Capital, which briefly owned HGI, from 1998-2002 with duties including the design of investment wrap account portals. Adams is a CFA charterholder and holds a Masters of Business Studies with honours.
IIS currently hosts funds on behalf of six underlying managers: Russell Investments; Australian-based listed property specialist, APN; Hunter Investment Management; Colonial First State; Legg Mason; and, Antipodes (part of the ASX-listed Pinnacle Investment Management stable).
The business, founded in 2010, also has more than $200 million under management via the InvestNow platform, which offers more than 100 funds from 16 different local and global managers direct to investors. InvestNow uses another Wellington-headquartered firm, Adminis, for investment administration and custody.
It is understood Rivers, who had a five-year stint at IIS, will start in an operations role at Kiwi Wealth next month. In July Kiwi Wealth selected BNP Paribas as its new administration provider charged with consolidating the $5 billion plus manager’s unwieldy back-office systems.
BNP Paribas provides fund administration and custody services to several IIS fund-hosting clients including Hunter and Legg Mason (which currently offers the Brandywine Global Opportunistic Fixed Income Fund in NZ). Adminis also ultimately outsources custody duties to BNP Paribas.