Since the emergence of “Modern Portfolio Theory” and the “Capital Asset Pricing Model” in the late 1960s, institutional investors have taken a quantitatively driven approach to portfolio construction, looking to create portfolio diversification and obtain better risk-adjusted returns by balancing their asset-class exposures. This journey has seen several important advancements in thinking about how to optimally achieve desired results.
Funds that want to take the total portfolio approach first need to get the total portfolio view. To do that they not only need data – and lots of it – but a rock-solid understanding of exactly how they’re going to use it.
Big managers dumped in KiwiSaver shake-up
ANZ, ASB, AMP, Fisher and Mercer have all been dumped as the KiwiSaver default schemes following the latest government review.
In a release last Friday (May 14), NZ Finance Minister, Grant Robertson, confirmed the default provider numbers would shrink to six with two new players – Smartshares and Simplicity – joining incumbents Westpac, BNZ, Booster and Kiwi Wealth – in the new regime.
The statement says: “On the advice of an independent panel, the number of default providers reduces from nine to six: Bank of New Zealand, Booster, BT Funds Management (Westpac), Kiwi Wealth, Simplicity and Smartshares (NZX).”
NZ’s Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister, David Clark, said the Government went to tender last October signalling the need for providers to demonstrate they would go further to deliver more for default members.
“The six default providers were selected because they offer the best value for money for their members in terms of lower fees and higher levels of service,” Clark said.
“We’ve also changed the default provider settings to enhance Kiwis’ financial wellbeing in retirement. This includes moving the default investment fund type from a conservative to a balanced setting to increase the likelihood of higher returns over the long-term.”
