Dan Mead has moved from AMP NZ to the Medical Assurance Society (MAS) as investment manager.
MAS has been recruiting for a new head of investments for a few months to replace Colin Thomson, who stepped down to a specialist advisory role in the business last year.
Mead was a senior portfolio manager for the AMP NZ financial services business from May 2021 until this August after serving almost 10 years on the ex-sister, and now defunct, funds management firm, AMP Capital NZ.
The medical industry financial services operation has more than $2 billion in funds under management including a $1 billion plus KiwiSaver scheme as well as other insurance and superannuation fund money.
In 2021 the MAS KiwiSaver scheme transitioned from restricted to retail status, opening up to the wider public. MAS, which has JB Were as an investment adviser, currently uses a range of underlying fund managers including BlackRock and PIMCO.
Former ANZ Investments head of diversified portfolio management, Alan Clarke, resurfaced last week in a new role at Nikko Asset Management.
Clarke, a more than 15-year veteran at the ANZ funds house, resigned last December amid a raft of changes at the organisation, giving a three-month notice period.
At Nikko, he takes up the newly created position as portfolio manager for diversified funds and external managers.
Nikko, known primarily as an institutional manager in NZ, is gearing up for a renewed push into the retail market under new head, Stuart Williams.
Williams, who also previously worked as a portfolio manager at ANZ, took over from predecessor, George Carter, this April. Carter resigned earlier in the year ahead of a return to his native UK.
The NZ business looks after about $8 billion with in-house local equities and fixed income teams, Nikko offshore investment capabilities as well as a suite of external global managers such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Ark Invest and Yarra (formerly Nikko Australia).
“With our investment team and innovative product suite, I’m confident we are well positioned to deliver the investment solutions clients demand – and I can’t wait to welcome Alan to the Nikko team when he starts in early October,” Williams said in a statement.
ANZ chief investment officer, Paul Huxford, is also due to leave the business in December in a move announced earlier this month at the same time as pending arrangements with Mercer and BlackRock to provide services to the $33 billion plus manager.
Elsewhere last week, former Morningstar director of manager research APAC, Tim Murphy, popped up as head of research for boutique Australian provider, Insight Investment Consultants.
Well-known in the NZ market, Murphy left Morningstar suddenly last December. Morningstar Australasia chief, Jamie Wickham, also exited the research house earlier this year.
Insight, which previously offered bespoke consulting services to Australian financial advisers, also shifted to “full-service
research house” mode following the appointment of Murphy.
The group, founded by Chris Lioutas, would roll out a funds rating service as the new hire comes on board.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to build an innovative and market leading research ratings business at Insight” Murphy said in the release.
Leo Mauceri also joined Insight as a senior investment consultant last week.
Meanwhile, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has reappointed University of Auckland professor, Prasanna Gai, to the board for a further five years.
Originally named to the FMA board in 2018, Gai has seen his term extended until 2028. Several FMA directors including chair Mark Todd, Vanessa Stoddart and Christopher Swasbrook are due to end their current terms next year while Kendall Flutey, Mark Weenink and Steven Bardy finish in 2027. Consumer representative, Sue Chetwin, officially wraps up her FMA board term in 2025.
In a statement, Gai flagged climate disclosure, cybersecurity and conduct as areas of focus for the regulator.
The Auckland academic also highlighted greenwashing as a special concern for the FMA.
“When financial firms, banks or asset managers are engaged in ethical and social investing, we have to be very conscious of that. In financial markets, some participants are tempted to engage in greenwashing – essentially, having a portfolio that they assure people is green, but which in fact includes shares in, for example, Saudi oil,” Gai said in the statement. “The customer doesn’t necessarily know and innocently thinks that what they’re investing in is ethical. So, monitoring that is a very big mandate for the FMA.”