Nikko Asset Management has landed a $250 million fixed income mandate with Tower, replacing long-time incumbent Fisher Funds in the plum institutional gig.
Fisher has managed the NZ insurer’s fixed income assets since the group bought the Tower Investments business in 2012, retaining the previously in-house mandates.
In a statement, freshly appointed Nikko managing director, Stuart Williams, confirmed the Tower win.
“We are thrilled to have been successful following a thorough selection process and look forward to creating long term value with the team at Tower,” Williams said.
Tower chief financial officer, Paul Johnston, said: “Nikko has significant experience managing insurance sector investment portfolios and a very strong investment performance track-record.
“We are particularly interested in Nikko’s background in environmental, social and governance (ESG) portfolio reporting capabilities. We look forward to leveraging Nikko’s capability in this space as we progress our ESG strategy and other relevant climate related disclosures.”
Known primarily as an institutional player in NZ, Nikko last reported almost $8 billion in funds under management with a substantial fixed income book run by Fergus McDonald.
McDonald manages about $1.8 billion of local fixed income and cash in the Nikko wholesale fund suite.
In 2021 Nikko picked up a $1 billion cash mandate for Mercer NZ in place of the now defunct AMP Capital.
Williams formally stepped in as Nikko NZ head this March after his predecessor, George Carter, resigned to return to the UK.
Previously, Williams was Nikko head of equities, a role he now shares with Michael Sherrock.
Aside from the senior management reshuffle – that also saw head of distribution, James Wesley, shift to the US as co-head of the group’s US business – Nikko also announced some board changes in April. Tokyo-based global representatives, Yutaka Nishida, and Tony Glover – group executive chair and global head of international sales, respectively – joined the board along with Williams as global chief risk officer, Ryu Kiyotaka, and Carter departed.