Former NZAM chief investment officer, Greg Peacock, has popped up in a consulting role with fast-growing governance training and research firm, MyFiduciary.
Peacock, who left NZAM in September 2017 following a restructure at the Auckland hedge fund-of-funds firm, will work with MyFiduciary on a few current projects, according to principal, Chris Douglas.
“Greg is well-respected in the industry and has a number of skills that fit well with MyFiduciary,” Douglas said.
After a seven-year career at NZAM, Peacock took up the chief executive role at Windhaven Securities – a newly-formed entity linked to the Spencer family investment vehicle, Clime Asset Management. He served as an investment manager with Clime for 18 years prior to joining NZAM in 2010.
Peacock stepped down as Windhaven director in April this year.
MyFiduciary has landed several key investment research and governance education gigs this year, including with Westpac’s financial planning arm and independent advisory firm, Milestone.
In June this year, MyFiduciary also signed a deal with Morningstar to offer the US-headquartered firm’s Adviser Research Centre (ARC) platform in NZ.
Douglas said MyFiduciary was close to launching a range of model portfolios using the ARC data.
He said the firm was fielding an increasing number of enquiries from NZ advisory businesses ahead of the looming Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act (FSLAA) transition phase.
An Australian financial planning group had also expressed interest in using MyFiduciary’s investment governance training services.
NZ financial services businesses have typically struggled to gain traction in Australia but that could be changing. As well as MyFiduciary, the Christchurch-based investment platform and advisory services firm, Consilium, has secured an Australian client, chief Scott Alman, told the Financial Services Council conference in September.
Consilium, which is heading up to $4 billion in funds under management, took over another floor in its Christchurch office this month to accommodate staff numbers that have grown over 40 per cent during the last 12 months.
Milford Asset Management, too, is having a serious crack at Australia after establishing a base there some time ago. Last week Milford appointed another Australian portfolio manager, Dan Simmons, bringing the Sydney investment team up to nine.
Simmons, previously a portfolio manager with Rare Infrastructure, will focus on global income, working with NZ-based David Lewis on the firm’s $2.8 billion Diversified Income fund.
Milford also launched its second Australian-domiciled fund targeting ASX-listed small and mid-cap stocks. The Dynamic fund joined the Australian Absolute Return Growth fund in the Milford Sydney stable in October.
The now $8 billion plus Auckland boutique launched the Milford Australian Absolute Return Growth Fund late in 2017. Since inception two years ago, the $100 million Milford Australian fund has returned over 13 per cent after fees, about double its benchmark of the Australian official cash rate (now 0.75 per cent) plus 5 per cent.
Finally, another NZ firm attempting to conquer Australia, Trustees Executors (TE), celebrated a small win in Melbourne last week after its compliance manager, Tamuka Nyawo, took out a top prize at the Governance Risk and Compliance Institute (GRCI) awards ceremony.
Nyawo was named NZ Compliance Professional of the Year at the GRCI event. According to TE head of corporate trustee services, Nyawo was “recognised for the proactive governance, risk and compliance frameworks he has developed for our business and clients”.
TE competes in the NZ wealth management, fund administration and licensed supervisory space. Following a deal to use the blockchain-based technology of Australian-based Grow Super, TE is also pitching for fund administration business across the Tasman.