PIE Funds has doubled its freshly-baked wealth management team after luring former Fisher Funds head of advice across this month.
James Paterson, a 12-year Fisher Funds veteran, officially joined as head of the new PIE Wealth unit in April to work alongside the boutique fund manager’s inaugural financial adviser, Simon Hepple.
The Auckland- and Hawke’s Bay-based PIE Funds appointed Hepple earlier this year to spearhead the manager’s nascent advice business.
Mike Taylor, PIE chief, told Investment News NZ (IN NZ) in February that the move into advice for was a natural progression for the $750 million boutique fund manager.
“We want to have a full offering,” Taylor told IN NZ. “Wealth management will also enable us to compete with peers such as Milford and Fisher Funds.”
The $5 billion Milford has a private wealth division of 13 including nine authorised financial advisers (AFAs) while Fisher, with assets over $7 billion, reports an advice team of seven.
Paterson joined Fisher Funds in 2006 in a business development role.
Meanwhile, the Christchurch-headquartered platform and financial advisory services business, Consilium, last week named former UDC Finance national sales manager investments, Helen Robertson, in a sales role.
Robertson takes up the Auckland-based business development manager position for Consilium after an 11-year career with the ANZ finance company offshoot, UDC. ANZ is reported to be considering an IPO for UDC after failing to gain regulatory clearance to sell to a Chinese firm.
In addition to experience in building financial adviser relationships for UDC, Robertson’s 30-year career in the industry includes stints in “retail banking, consumer lending, customer service management, trustee services and marketing and business development”, a Consilium statement says.
She will service Consilium clients nationwide.
Consilium has about $2.5 billion on its FNZ-built investment platform including roughly $250 million under the Synergy discretionary investment management services (DIMS) offer – a joint venture with SBS Bank-owned Funds Administration New Zealand Limited (FANZ).
As well as pure platform services Consilium provides model portfolios based on the ‘asset class’ investment strategy pioneered by US manager, Dimensional Fund Advisors.