Pāua Wealth Management, the new wholesale advice shop established by ex BNZ private bank head Donna Nicolof, has appointed MyFiduciary as asset consultant.
Nicolof said MyFiduciary would set the strategic asset allocation for Pāua, which launched to much fanfare last week.
“We’re in the process now of selecting managers for our approved product list [APL],” she said. The APL will include direct securities as well as funds across a range of asset classes.
MyFiduciary, which includes Aaron Drew and Chris Douglas as principals, has been on a growth spurt over the last year or two, including winning Westpac as a client in 2019.
As well as the usual quality investment criteria, managers on the Pāua APL would have to present strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, Nicolof said.
“We’ve got an ESG framework based on four key points: responsible investment – or ‘do no harm’; ESG integration; active ownership; and, impact investing,” she said.
The group has lined up a number of other service providers including FNZ for custodial platform duties.
After six years with BNZ, Nicolof resigned as the group’s private bank head last August to establish Pāua. Last week she revealed two former BNZ authorised financial advisers (AFAs), Belina Teoh and Chris Glackin, had joined the new advice firm – which will target high net worth investors, family offices, charities and the like.
Melissa Platt, who returned to NZ early in 2020 after a 15-year stint as portfolio manager with Mondrian Investment Partners in the UK, is Pāua head of investments. Prior to leaving for the UK in 2002, Platt served as research manager for FundSource.
Pāua also sports a chief risk officer, Jude Pereira, and chief financial officer, Simon Glass. Additionally, the group has named George Boubouras and Quentin Stewart as independent members of the investment committee while high-profile NZ business people – Andy Morris, Catherine Savage and Rob Campbell – sit on the Pāua advisory board.
According to Nicolof, Pāua’s fee-only approach should prove attractive for wholesale investors looking for conflict-free advice.
“We will build bespoke portfolios for clients based entirely on their needs without incentives like commissions,” she said.
Pāua offers three investment advice modes: full discretion; consultation prior to portfolio changes; or, execution-only.
The group also offers ‘holistic’ wealth management services such as tax, trust and estate planning services, family governance, and banking via its network of trusted professionals.
“Or we’ll work with our clients’ preferred specialist advisers,” Nicolof said.
She said with interest rates at historical lows and rising market volatility the demand for advice in NZ would only increase.
“There’s a real opportunity here for independent financial advice in what is currently an under-served market,” Nicolof said.
Pāua launched without any confirmed clients but she said the firm has already registered strong interest since it went live.