IRD concedes defeat in fund GST struggle
An almost five-year tax saga ground to an indefinite halt last week as the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) backed down on controversial plans to remove GST from fund manager fees. In a victory for the status quo, the IRD ruled that fund managers can maintain the current practice of charging GST on 10 per cent...
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Harbour swaps supervisor to bring in new financial year
In a rare back-office move Harbour Asset Management will change its fund supervisor effective April 1. Ruari McGregor, Harbour chief operating officer, confirmed the Wellington-headquartered manager would shift from long-time incumbent supervisor, Trustees Executors (TE), by the start of the coming financial year. “Following a robust and thorough review process, Harbour has decided to transition...
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FMA five-year figures feature 5,000 complaints (but few for financial advisers)
Financial advisers represented just 6 per cent of the 5,000 plus complaints lodged with the regulator over the five years to the end of 2018, new data obtained under the Official Information Act (OIA) reveals. According to figures supplied exclusively to Investment News NZ, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) recorded just 303 complaints against authorised...
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NZ life insurers see rise in profits as reforms loom
NZ life insurers carved out annual net profits of almost $500 million, according to an analysis of the latest financial data on the sector. The Auckland-based firm Chatswood Consulting research shows total life insurer profits were up 6.3 per cent over 2017/18 compared to the previous annual period. “This translated to a return on net...
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Staying active in changing times: from the 70s to today
The world’s largest active-only fund manager swung by NZ last week bringing an old perspective on new times. Andy Budden, Singapore-based investment director with the Capital Group, said the philosophy behind the US$1.8 trillion asset manager’s flagship global equities fund remains as relevant today as it did on launch 45 years ago. “Capital launched the...
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Super normal times: why mega-tech is king
Facebook could be the weakest link among the top-tier technology elite but the company, and the sector in general, remain the best source of “super normal equity returns”, T Rowe Price portfolio specialist Nick Beecroft, told a NZ audience last week. Speaking at a Harbour Asset Management adviser briefing in Wellington, Beecroft said while Facebook...
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Two big goals for NAB Asset Servicing
NAB Asset Servicing has won two new clients – both from BNP Paribas Securities Services – in a welcome relief after a couple of tough years, from a business sense. Importantly, the wins were made on its own. NAB and Citi, its international partner, now do their own pitches. REI Super, the $1.7 billion real...
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Metric tricks: study looks behind the smart beta smoke and mirrors
Has the factor magic disappeared? New research by index provider FTSE Russell suggests the answer to that question lies in the eye of the beholder. The just-published FTSE Russell paper says recent reports of the death of factors could be premature. Factor, or ‘smart beta’, investing targets a number of allegedly persistent characteristics buried in...
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KKR has another ‘swing at the plate’
The world’s biggest and most famous, or infamous, private equity firm has revisited its opinions on the macro environment just two months after already delivering its original views, in January. The verdict is: it’s OK. Thanks for the insight. The KKR white paper published recently by Henry McVey, the firm’s head of global macro and...
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