AMP Capital NZ completed its transition to Macquarie hands last week with the local management team remaining in place and former head, Grant Hassell, assuming chair duties.
According to just-updated scheme documents, Hassell, previously AMP Capital global head of fixed income, is now chair of Macquarie Asset Management NZ (MAMNZ). Macquarie Asset Management Australia lists Brett Lewthwaite as global head of fixed income (as well as chief investment officer).
Following the ownership change, former AMP Capital NZ managing director, Rebekah Swan, takes up the MAMNZ head of public investments title. Swan also continues as MAMNZ director and chair of subsidiary company Macquarie Asset Management Public Investments (which includes Hassell and MAMNZ head of investment strategy, Michael Gray, on the board).
Macquarie finalised its purchase of the AMP Capital global equities and fixed income (GEFI) trans-Tasman assets last week, shelling out A$63 million in cash for the roughly A$47 billion of funds under management. AMP stands to earn a further A$75 million in two years time on the GEFI sale pending retention thresholds.
However, while Macquarie bought the AMP Capital Australia GEFI funds as stand-alone assets, it purchased the underlying corporate entities in NZ.
“MAMNZ is the parent company of Macquarie’s New Zealand operations and owns the Manager and the other New Zealand subsidiaries used to carry on Macquarie’s New Zealand business,” the disclosure document says.
Under the deal, Macquarie has retained the previous AMP Capital NZ fund structures – covering 23 retail products and a number of other wholesale strategies.
Despite name changes and shift to Macquarie control for most global funds previously managed by AMP Capital Australia, former third-party managers backing the NZ product range have also survived the transition.
For example, Salt Funds Management and Harbour Asset Management keep their respective former AMP Capital NZ shares mandates post-sale while UBS stays on as underlying manager for the Macquarie Ethical Leaders Hedged Global Fixed Interest Index Fund.
And in a weird vestige of AMP corporate history, the disclosure document confirms “National Mutual Funds Management Limited is the investment manager of the Macquarie NZ Shares Index Fund”.
Historically, National Mutual was a major competitor of AMP in the Australasian life insurance market. Bought by French company Axa in 1999, the former National Mutual Australasian assets fell into the AMP orbit following an ill-fated A$13 billion plus takeover in 2010.
The ASX-listed AMP has disintegrated in spectacular fashion in the decade or so since cementing the Axa Asia-Pacific deal, divesting numerous assets including its life insurance business (completed last year) and the GEFI funds. As well as shifting other third-party managed Multi-Asset Group (MAG) funds to AMP Australia control, the firm also plans to list, or sell, the remaining AMP Capital private asset arm – now known as Collimate Capital – in the first half of this year.
Meanwhile, the AMP Capital NZ business saw a significant change last year after ex-sister firm, AMP Wealth NZ, dropped it from a $9.6 billion mandate in favour of an indexing arrangement with BlackRock for most of its KiwiSaver and other superannuation funds. From a high of about $22 billion in 2020, AMP Capital NZ reported total funds under management of just over $8 billion at the end of last year.
In 2020, about 60 per cent of AMP Capital NZ net fee revenue of almost $50.5 million came via related parties including $20 million plus from AMP Wealth.
But with a clean sheet and the backing of the global investment giant Macquarie (currently boasting A$735 billion under management across multiple asset classes), the former AMP Capital NZ business is poised for renewal.
Macquarie will likely offer further products in the NZ market and it’s already looking ahead with a job opening for a senior tax manager here.
“In this varied role you will cover the full spectrum of advisory and compliance work relating to income, indirect and other taxes, as well as transfer pricing,” the MAMNZ ad says. “… Your specific areas of focus will be providing direction to the New Zealand tax function and advising on business transactions and also supporting the product and sales teams on tax matters. As part of a global tax team, there will be opportunities to get involved in global projects and initiatives.”
Macquarie Group also holds about 8 per cent of Hobson Wealth in NZ while the firm took full ownership of the seminal investment boutique Brook Asset Management in 2009 before shuttering the business six years later.