Government moots extending bank/insurer conduct rules to KiwiSaver, DIMS et al
The government could subject a wide range of financial institutions including KiwiSaver providers to proposed conduct regulations that emerged last week in response to recent bank and life insurer investigations. An options paper released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) late in the week lays out a series of measures designed to...
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A half of two quarters (and why investors need to play the long game with bonds)
The March quarter saw active management pay off in half of the asset classes tracked by Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW). According to the researcher’s latest investment survey, the median manager outperformed over the March quarter in seven of the 14 MJW asset categories. The result marked an improvement on the December quarter where the median...
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NZX targets June launch for new iShares suite
The NZX-owned Smartshares has confirmed it will partner with the world’s biggest fund manager to roll out a new batch of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). As reported here last month, the NZX has struck a deal with the US$6.3 trillion BlackRock to badge a range of US-based manager’s iShares ETFs under the Smartshares banner. Smartshares chief,...
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Māori fund business aims high with low-cost offer
IwiInvestor has moved to a fully-outsourced passive funds management model as it seeks to carve out a $1 billion plus niche as a low-cost investment provider to Māori-owned entities. Debra Birch, who took over as IwiInvestor executive chair in February 2017, said the group – a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Tūwharetoa-associated Lake Taupō Forest Trust...
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Survey finds strong ESG influence in Australasia
Australasian institutional investors are more likely to award a mandate based on a manager’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) record than global peers, a recent survey has found. Madhu Gayer, BNP Paribas Securities Services investment analytics and sustainability manager, said 64 per cent of Australian and NZ institutional investors had selected a manager using ESG...
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Northern Trust’s new PE admin strategy goes open architecture
Northern Trust is in discussions with a strategic partner to help build what it believes to be a “game-changing” platform for its blockchain technology. Northern Trust was the first of the global custodian banks to go live with blockchain technology for private equity two years ago. According to Peter Cherecwich, Northern Trust president of Corporate...
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Fintech body grows wealth arm
The fast-growing FinTechNZ industry association has launched a new sub-group targeting the wealth sector, similar to the InsurTechNZ network established last year. James Brown, FinTech NZ head, said the WealthTechNZ think-tank would assemble interested parties to map out how the sector operated, how it could be improved with financial technology and develop a new “funding...
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Colonial makes top 25 China list
First State Investments, the global manager better known in Australia and New Zealand as Colonial First State Global Asset Management, has become the first Australian fund manager to make the list of the top 25 foreign managers dealing with either inbound or outbound China investments. According to the latest annual survey by influential China funds...
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Final call for replacement Retirement Commissioner
Applications closed this morning for the coveted role of Retirement Commissioner (RC) ahead of a slated July start date for the new leader. Current RC Dianne Maxwell was stood down last December pending a State Services Commission investigation into claims she bullied staff. While the government had yet to release details of the investigation, Commerce...
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NZ Super sustains responsible kudos in new study
The NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) retained its ranking among the world’s top 25 “most responsible asset allocators” in a US-curated list that also included six Australian funds as ‘leaders’ or ‘finalists’. In a follow-up to the inaugural 2017 Responsible Asset Allocator Initiative (RAAI) – a joint project of the New America think-tank and the Tufts...
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