Lance Jones has stepped down as chief operating officer (COO) at Pie Funds but will retain a governance role at the boutique manager.
Jones has held the dual COO and chief financial officer spots at Pie since 2016 during a period that included the launch of several new funds as well as the group’s Juno KiwiSaver scheme.
He remains on the Pie board as one of five non-executive directors who serve alongside Pie founder, Mike Taylor.
Paul Gregory, Pie head of investments, has taken on the COO responsibilities in the interim.
Gregory said Jones made the change to “focus on governance”.
Prior to joining Pie Jones was COO for OMF Financial in NZ.
In a torrid month for all asset classes, Pie returns ranged from -2.4 per cent for its conservative portfolio to -19.4 per cent for the Growth 2 fund in March.
Taylor said in the latest Pie monthly newsletter that the manager was beginning to deploy some of its significant cash holdings in the equity funds. Current cash weightings range from about 25 per cent to 45 per cent across the Pie share fund suite.
“We’re doing it now, but we’re sniping rather than firing the powder,” he says in the newsletter. “I’ll be priming the cash cannon – but remaining cautious, watchful and patient…”
Pie reported funds under management of more than $813 million as at the end of March, although the figure includes “$111m of interfund investments (Global, Chairman’s and Conservative)”.
Separately, the Juno KiwiSaver scheme sat at just over $100 million on December 31 last year.
Meanwhile, the new Nicholas Bagnall wholesale shop, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management (TAIM), is looking for a senior equity analyst as it gears up for growth.
Bagnall launched TAIM last November after quitting as chief investment officer of the $45 billion Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) fund, ending a 26-year career with the government operation.
However, he received a reasonable leaving gift – an almost $1.6 billion global equities mandate to be managed by TAIM.
Ian Graham, who worked with Bagnall at the ACC from 2007 to 2012, joined TAIM last year as a senior analyst.
According to the job description, TAIM would prefer candidates for the new senior analyst role with “generalist capabilities rather than someone heavily specialised in a specific sector”.
Duties include a focus on “fundamental research and analysis on the prospects, valuation and investment attractiveness” of large cap global stocks.
“Many of the companies you will be expected to follow will be assigned by the Chief Investment Officer, but you will also be expected to undertake self-directed research on new companies and ideas,” the description says.
BT Funds NZ has also listed the head of investments position recently vacated by Matthew Goldsack.
The $10 billion plus “well established and regarded fund manager” is seeking candidates with at least 15 years experience in portfolio management.
Goldsack resigned earlier this year to take on the head of investments gig at charity-focused fund house, Trust Management.