A tweak in the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA) research process has seen the two biggest institutional investors in NZ downgraded a notch in the ‘leader’ rankings.
According to the 2023 RIAA NZ annual report, both the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) and the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) fund have slipped from ‘responsible investment leaders’ to just ‘responsible investors’ following a change to the qualitative assessment process.
“RIAA introduced new questions and response options this year, and altered the scoring of some questions to keep up with market trends,” the report says. “This also reflects the findings from our 2022 Stewardship Study which revealed stewardship, active ownership and corporate engagement trends and best practices in our region. RIAA also changed some existing questions and response options to clarify the intent and remedy issues that had confused respondents.”
Between them the NZS and ACC funds manage more than $100 billion, or about a third of the total $359 billion of investment assets identified in the RIAA report.
The responsible leadership scoring revamp triggered several other changes both ways, too, with a few new entrants in the upper echelons including local player Devon Funds and offshore managers Stewart Investors and MFS: meanwhile, a few – including Booster, Foundation North and Morrison & Co – have dropped out from both rankings after appearing in the leader group last year.
Overall, the RIAA analysis found a majority of NZ assets under management followed some kind of responsible investment guidelines for the first time since the industry organisation and accreditation body has reported on the market.
Dean Hegarty, RIAA executive manager, said in a statement: “It’s only a few years since responsible investment was seen as a niche market. But the landscape has now turned on its head – today, funds not actively engaged in responsible investment are not just lagging; they’re stranded at the starting line of a race that’s already in full swing.”
Meanwhile, ResearchIP has opened voting for its annual adviser- and investor-selected NZ funds management awards with two extra categories established for the 2023 race.
The Australian-based research house has added BDM-of-the-year and another new vote-based gong to “recognise innovation in the funds management industry”.
Advisers and investors will have the usual say on other NZ funds in multiple asset classes and KiwiSaver.
The democratised prizes complement the core ResearchIP fund awards that cover a wide range of sectors as well as those those recognising responsible investment, boutique, KiwiSaver, longevity and overall fund manager of the year.
Last year Smartshares claimed the top title.
Now in its fifth year, the ResearchIP annual awards have been set down for November 15 in the rooftop terrace of the Auckland Rydges hotel.
Frances Valintine, NZ education technology expert, will anchor the award ceremony as keynote speaker.
Links to the adviser and investor online polling stations are available here.