News

(Pictured: Guy Eliffe) AMP Capital has abandoned its New Zealand equities operation, making redundant the long-time head of NZ shares, Guy Eliffe, prior to handing over NZ$760 million (A$722 million) to a “third-party active equity manager”. In a client note dated December 19 last, AMP NZ said the move was prompted by “our views on the…

(Pictured: Scott Minerd) Investors who have sought out higher-yielding credit for their fixed income portfolios due to generally low interest rates need to be cautious about sentiment following the slump in oil prices. Spreads have widened as energy makes up 15 per cent of the high-yield corporate bond index. Guggenheim Partners, a global credit specialist, has…

(Pictured: James Leplaw) News Corporation has launched its foray into the SMSFs systems and advice market, with the Eureka Report’s ‘brightday’ service, developed in partnership with OneVue, going live last week. The service links a transaction platform with Eureka Report and other research. James Leplaw, Eureka Report publisher and brightday general manager, says the platform is…

In a rare action in the institutional investment world, Towers Watson is being sued by a former client for “negligent” advice relating to a currency hedge dating back to 2008. The advice was given by the former Watson Wyatt before it merged with the former Towers Perrin. The action has been taken in the UK,…

(Pictured: Don A. Steinbrugge) This year should be a good one for hedge fund managers. Surveys of investors in the past few months have been predicting bigger allocations to alternatives. But we’ve heard that before. The main reason this year will be good is that alpha is likely to have returned. According to Agecroft Partners, a…

(Pictured: Matt Whineray)  By Greg Bright New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the A$25.7 billion sovereign wealth fund, has staked a big claim in the Australian retirement market. It has bought, through a 50-per-cent-owned vehicle, the fourth-largest retirement village company – RetireAustralia. Australian super funds should take note. NZ Super has partnered with Infratil Ltd to pay…

(Pictured: Kenneth Froot) Forget uncertainty about China, Asia as a whole is propping up global investor confidence, according to the latest State Street Global Exchange investor confidence index. Europe is down significantly and the US is down a bit. But Asia is up. Kenneth Froot, the Harvard professor who works with State Street’s research arm, State…

(Pictured: Jason Hsu) The two big trends for fund managers in 2014 were smart beta and outcome-oriented investments. Hardly new concepts, but they struck a nerve with investors still a little shaken from the global financial crisis. Research Affiliates, which came up with the “fundamental index” that started the smart beta trend, has a word of…

(Pictured: Patrick Liddy)  Many super funds and other investors are foregoing incremental investment returns which can add up to hundreds of basis points due to either lack of diligence or awareness, according to Patrick Liddy. “There is money for nothing to be had if you are prepared to look,” he says. Liddy, the principal of…

(source: CISCO) By Greg Bright The two big drivers of the superannuation industry, along with many industries throughout the world, next year and beyond are rising consumer empowerment alongside increasingly rapid advances in technology. Business now is as much about the Democracy of Everything as it is about the Internet of Everything. Neither consumer empowerment…

(Pictured: Rob Keavney) Rob Keavney, a leading light in Australia’s financial planning industry for many years, has died after a long illness. An enthusiastic commentator and industry participant, the business Keavney and his wife Glenese started, which became Centric Wealth, is now one of the largest of its type. After running their own practice, Investor Security…

(Pictured: Whitney Drayton) Artisan Partners, a US-based global manager, will open an Australian office next month. It has employed its former third-party marketer in Australia and New Zealand, Whitney Drayton, as a full-time executive to run the office in Sydney. Drayton brought Artisan to Australia in 2011 and has represented them since through his company Grey…