The recently acquired Investment Services Group (ISG) has made a local purchase of its own after buying a long-running funds distribution business earlier this month.
Under the deal, ISG will take over control of The Investment Store, the third-party funds marketing operation founded by Matthew Mimms in 2006.
Mimms said he would remain on board for the next nine months to ensure a smooth transition as ISG recruits a replacement.
“From my perspective, and after almost 20 years running the Investment Store, I have decided it is time to move on to other projects,” he told clients. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to entrust The Investment Store to the ISG who are well placed to further develop and grow the business.”
Mimms was also a founding director of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia. He said his future work focus may centre on investment industry-adjacent opportunities in areas such as sustainability.
The Investment Store has provided distribution support to Devon Funds – one of three brands in the ISG manager suite that also includes Tahito and Clarity – with other current third-party marketing agreements with Australia-based firms India Avenue, Pengana and Bentham Asset Management.
In a statement, ISG chief, Richard O’Brien, said the purchase “enhances our ability to broaden the range of quality investment opportunities available to our clients”.
Devon and Clarity already badge portfolio investment entity (PIE) funds managed by well-known US fund manager brands such as Capital Group, MFS and Wellington.
“We’re encouraged by the growing interest from high-calibre global managers in the New Zealand market,” O’Brien said.
NZ has seen a deluge of offshore investment managers pouring into the PIE market over the last decade, either in bespoke arrangements with local firms such as Devon, Clarity, Harbour and Salt or via the fund-host channels built by FundRock and, more recently, Adminis.
Australian wealth management firm, Shaw and Partners, paid $67.5 million to buy 75 per cent of ISG this June in a deal that valued the NZ diversified financial services business at about $100 million.
Founded by Paul Glass in 2010, ISG also shelters the advisory network, JMI Wealth, the JMI KiwiSaver scheme, and discretionary investment management service (DIMS) and distribution platform, Select Wealth, under its umbrella.
The JMI brand will be replaced by the Shaw banner at some point but the Select and ISG fund management names remain as is. Shaw and Partners is ultimately owned by Swiss private bank, EFG International.
Earlier this month, Devon head of retail, Greg Smith, also resigned ahead of a move to Generate.
Smith joins Generate in September in the newly created investment specialist role. He took on the Devon job late in 2021 after an almost 20-year stint as head of research for the Australian stock researcher and fund house, Fat Prophets.