ASSET - 2025 FInancial Forecasts

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Finn Butcher, kayak cross gold medalist

Contents | ASSET Autumn

Booster launches new range of managed funds

Advisers have a new suite of competitively priced managed funds to consider, with the launch of Booster’s new Wealth Series.

Booster Chief Executive Officer Diana Papadopoulos says the Wealth Series responds to demand for actively managed funds to sit alongside their KiwiSaver offering.

“The Wealth Series are well-rounded funds that use the insights and expertise of our in-house specialists and international expert partners.

“We keep a close eye on shifting trends in an ever-changing world, so we can review the position of our funds to help manage risk or improve returns.

“A key aim of the Wealth Series funds is to deliver consistent relative short-term performance that builds to deliver strong longerterm relative results. As part of this, we have a strong focus on managing downside risk to help limit the impact on our investors’ capital,” says Papadopoulos.

Papadopoulos says the Wealth Series offers a compelling balance of value and active management.

“The Wealth Series is an evolution of our diversified funds offering including allocations to unlisted assets and applying our responsible investment principles,” says Papadopoulos.

“We’re embedding the same investing principles that we do across our Socially Responsible (SR) funds, so there are restrictions

on certain investments in 15 controversial industries from alcoholic beverages to whaling.

“People will also get exposure to the cuttingedge Kiwi technology and companies in our Booster Innovation Fund, and land and property in our Private Land and Property Fund” says Papadopoulos.

“Both of these funds further diversify the Wealth Series funds – and as a bonus they make direct investments in New Zealand.

The Wealth Series includes 5 multisector funds, with the following management fees as at April 2025:

• Wealth Moderate 0.72%

• Wealth Balanced 0.82%

• Wealth Growth 0.90%

• Wealth High Growth 0.95%

• Wealth Geared Growth 1.34% *

The Wealth Series funds have been certified by RIAA and are available now.

For more information go to www.booster.co.nz

*Plus GST where applicable. For the Wealth Geared Growth the fee quoted includes an estimate of the gearing fee of 0.39%, with additional interest costs.

Booster Investment Management Limited (BIML) is the issuer and manager of the Booster Investment Scheme (Scheme) which the Wealth Series is part of. Product Disclosure Statements for the Scheme are available at www.booster.co.nz

• Whaling

• Civilian firearms

• Pornographic material

• Gambling

• Recreational cannabis

• Tobacco

• Palm oil production and plantations

• Fossil fuels

• Military weapons

• Seaborne livestock exports

• Nuclear power

• Animal testing (non-medical)

• Alcoholic beverages

• Factory farming

• Genetically modifying organisms

Welcome to the first issue of ASSET this year. As you will no doubt be aware things are tough in the media world.

Generally, we (Tarawera Publishing) have been quite insulated from the disruption as financial services is incredibly resilient to economic ups and downs.

The start of 2025 is a period nothing like we have seen before in nearly three decades of providing news to financial advisers.

Ironically, the word which comes to mind is uncertainty which is also a theme in articles this month.

Getting product providers, whether it be fund managers or life insurance companies, to open their wallets is proving to be incredibly difficult.

With that background we are considering the future for ASSET Magazine. We'd like to continue it as we get good feedback from advisers, but it needs to become financially sustainable.

But there is good news. For a long time now we have been building a new Good Returns website and we will be excited to push the go live button soon. (Anyone who has done a web dev project knows setting a deadline is unrealistic – it always

takes longer).

Fascinating year ahead

We have some exciting ideas how we can provide long form journalism of ASSET into the new platform.

As the site gets closer I’m extending an invitation to anyone who wants to help do some beta testing of the new platform. If you are interested, please email philip@ goodreturns.co.nz.

So that’s an update of things at TPL. Now for the industry.

The world is rather messy at the moment. (That’s probably an understatement). For investment advisers and financial planners, it’s a time for heightened contact with clients to reassure them and encourage them to stick to the plan.

I did read an interesting piece from financial planning firm de Vere that enquiries to its advisers were up 50% since President Trump took office. At first it was about how to hook into the so-called Trump Bump, now it is about how to manage the uncertainties Trump is creating.

There is more about markets and the year ahead in our Financial Forecasts feature starting on page 16.

Also, in that feature former Partners Life chief executive and TAP chair Naomi Ballantyne has an excellent article for life

and health insurance advisers.

The big issue facing this group is skyrocketing premiums.

Ballantyne has a strong message about how advisers should be sticking to their plans.

Perhaps one of the most unexpected things in this sector is the growth in providers followed by a change in leadership.

While there were arguments that there were too many insurers in New Zealand, the opposite is happening. PPS Mutual is about to enter the market from Australia, nib has launched its Life and Living products which expands it from a health insurer to a life insurer, and then Asteron has a new owner which may see changes here.

Added to that at least three companies have new chief executives appointed in just over a year (Fidelity Life, Partners Life and Chubb).

With all the above it is going to be a fascinating year.

Philip Macalister Publisher

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philip@tarawera.co.nz

Publisher Philip Macalister

Publishing co-ordinator

Alexa Whitehead

Photography

Alisha Lovrich

Staff Writer

Kim Savage

Design Michelle Veysey

Contributors

Russell Hutchinson, David Van Schaardenburg, Naomi Ballantyne

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Alexa Whitehead P: 0274 377 527 E: subscriptions@tarawera.co.nz

Disclaimer

All articles in ASSET are for information purposes only, the content is intended to be of a general nature, does not take into account any person’s specific circumstances, and is not financial, legal, or other advice. It is recommended you seek advice from a suitable expert before taking any action in relation to anything contained in this magazine.

ASSET is published by Tarawera Publishing Ltd (TPL). TPL also publishes online money management magazine Good Returns GoodReturns.co.nz and TMM – The Mortgage Mag.

All contents of ASSET Magazine are copyright Tarawera Publishing Ltd.

Any reproduction without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

ISSN 1175-9585

KiwiSaver becoming cash cow

As KiwiSaver balances continue to swell the scheme is becoming a cash cow for investment managers, prompting one industry observer to question why there is not more downward pressure on fees.

Paul Brownsey, who co-founded Pathfinder alongside John Berry and was its CIO before leaving the company a year ago questions why fees haven’t fallen as funds under management swells.

“Some of these managers are generating $100 million in fee revenue now, but we haven't really seen fees go down to what you'd expect in a much larger market like Australia or the US, with that sort of revenue stream,” he says.

The December quarter Morningstar KiwiSaver survey, released in February, offers the latest estimates of providers’ annual fee revenue although the research house warns against relying on the numbers as proof of how much

money a particular fund manager is making from KiwiSaver.

However, Morningstar calculates that the five largest KiwiSaver providers, ANZ, ASB, Fisher, Westpac and Milford will collect more than $650 million in fees in 2025 from KiwiSaver members, at an average fee of around 0.80 of a cent per dollar invested.

“There's a massive discrepancy between the lowest fee KiwiSaver operators and the highest fee KiwiSaver operators,” says Brownsey.

“So the obvious question to ask is, does it make sense for investors to pay higher fees to anyone?

“The answer is quite nuanced, but what people need to do is look at not just the headline fee, but also at the returns after fees are taken out.”

Brownsey says with almost guaranteed 6% funds growth each year from contributions alone, and the fact members tend to stick with their provider, KiwiSaver has become a dream for fund managers.

Pressure to reduce fees has previously been driven by the FMA, he says, but the regulator seems to have pulled back.

“There should be more pressure on fees, especially for those KiwiSaver providers who have scale.

“They don't have to add people to their team, because they've already got critical mass. I mean, it's just a layup, really.”

Brownsey says some KiwiSaver providers do a better job than others of justifying their fees, but it is something every provider needs to consider. Prescribed disclosure requirements around fees means providers are all offering the same or similar explanations.

“Just because it's there doesn't mean it's easy for people to understand or get their heads around.

“It would be great to see research on the returns for the different KiwiSaver managers after fees,” Brownsey says. A

Brownsey says it doesn't seem to matter whether returns and fees are high low or somewhere in between. The two simple charts here show that about half of the high fee managers justify their returns with best in field returns, but you need to be careful picking the right high fee manager because about half are terrible (over the past five year period).

Using my "eyeball statistical significance test" there does seem to be a positive correlation between higher fees and higher.

The latest appointments

BOOSTER GETS NEW CEO…

Booster founder Allan Yeo has stepped into a new role with the appointment of chief executive.

Di Papadopoulos has been appointed chief executive as the company continues its strategy to bring in a new generation of leadership.

Papadopoulos, who is currently Booster’s Chief Customer Officer, will be responsible for managing the funds management business, including Booster’s innovative Savvy debit card.

Booster founder Allan Yeo will continue as group managing director, focused on strategy and Booster’s wider business interests.

Yeo says the new appointment is part of Booster’s multi-year plan to transition key leadership positions.

“It’s very satisfying to watch the next generation taking the reins. We have built a very capable team, and Di is a standout leader, who I have every confidence in to successfully take Booster into the future,” he says.

Papadopoulos will clock over 10 years at Booster in July. Prior to that she held a senior management role at BP Oil.

Papadopoulos says; “At Booster we know what a great privilege it is to look after people’s money. I’m incredibly conscious of that and the team know I will be relentless at continuing to put our customers at the centre of everything we do,” Papadopoulos says.

In recent months we have seen the appointment of two new chief executives; the resignation of a senior Financial Markets staffer and many comings and goings at Fisher Funds.

…SO DOES CHUBB

Zealand.

The appointment follows Gail Costa’s retirement, after a long and distinguished career in the insurance industry and with the company.

With 30 years of experience in the retail banking and insurance industries, ter Brake joins Chubb with a strong background in leadership and transformation, and a proven track record in the digital and consumer field.

Before joining Chubb Life, ter Brake served as executive general manager, Consumer Brands for IAG New Zealand. Her remit at IAG included leading an extensive portfolio including its retail brands and bank partnerships across New Zealand.

Prior to IAG, she held leadership roles at Tower Insurance, First Citizen Asset Management, and GE Money.

Chairman Paul Brock said, “Paula’s proven track record in driving growth along with transforming large businesses will bring real value to our customers, partners and our people. She is recognised for her dynamic leadership style and success in driving strategic initiatives and will play a key role as we continue the growth and success of our business.

CHANGES AT ASTERON POST SALE

Asteron Life has made some key changes to its board and leadership team following the recent acquisition by Resolution Life Australasia.

Asteron Life will continue to be led by Grant Willis as chief executive and the business will be overseen by the board, chaired by Simon Tyler. The board will comprise of independent directors Rachel Walsh and Julia Raue as well as directors Tim Tez and Keith Taylor.

Key additional appointments to the leadership team include Kristy Redfern as chief risk officer, Stefan Azzopardi as chief financial officer and Catherine Henshall as interim Appointed Actuary.

Redfern joined Asteron Life in February 2025 as chief risk officer. She brings extensive legal and corporate services experience across Australia, New Zealand and London and most recently held the position of general counsel and company secretary for AIA Australia.

Azzopardi is an accomplished senior executive with deep domestic and international experience through C-suite positions. His most recent role was chief executive of Donaldson Brown Insurance Brokers and prior to that chief finance and risk officer at Southern Cross Health Society.

Henshall has been appointed as Appointed Actuary while an external search continues for the permanent position.

Scott Jensen has also been appointed as acting executive Manager, Claims and Customer Solutions pending a recruitment process commencing for the permanent role. He has deep claims experience with the team and has been in senior claims roles with Asteron Life for nearly five years.

Paula ter Brake has been appointed chief executive of Chubb Life Insurance New

DI PAPADOPOULOS

PAULA TER BRAKE

HELEN SKINNER

MORE KERNELS ADDED TO THE COB

Digital wealth platform Kernel has nabbed senior staffers from ANZ and Fisher Funds.

Helen Skinner, joins the business as head of distribution and sustainability strategy, "adding powerhouse resource" to Kernel’s adviser and wholesale segment.

Skinner most recently was head of sustainability at ANZ and before that at Craigs Investment Partners.

“Kernel are creating an ecosystem where technology and human expertise work seamlessly together, to make quality financial advice accessible to all Kiwis, regardless of their wealth level", Skinner says.

At the end of January, 45% of Kernel FUM comprised of adviser and wholesale clients; with rapid adoption of its adviser KiwiSaver solution. “Our advised KiwiSaver solution has grown organically –we're now working with over 25 firms and have a focus on expanding the technology capacity of this product in 2025”, chief executive Dean Anderson says.

Kernel’s previous head of marketing and customer strategy, Catherine Emerson , has been appointed to the role of chief customer officer. With this change, the platform has strengthened its team with Andy Havill , formerly of Fisher Funds, joining as head of marketing.

“Andy’s appointment could not have come at a better time”, says Emerson.

“Last year, our KiwiSaver membership was up 95%, our average investor balance grew 48% and January saw our highest month of new customer sign ups – ever", says Emerson.

AURORA CAPITAL GETS TWO FISHERS

Aurora Capital, the country’s fastestgrowing KiwiSaver provider, has a new leadership team which includes two former Fisher Funds staffers.

Sharon Mackay has been appointed as chief executive and Marcus Wild as chief client officer.

Mackay was formerly at Fisher Funds and held roles in distribution and managing third party channels. Prior to that she was at BNZ. Wild was Fisher's marketing manager.

“I am thrilled to be joining Aurora Capital as chief executive to help guide the company through its next phase. The strength of Aurora’s growth in the last few years is testament to its client obsession and its focus on advisers as its primary client channel.

"Aurora has tremendous potential to

continue on this trajectory by maintaining a laser-sharp focus on being the easiest KiwiSaver manager for advisors to work with, freeing them up to focus on helping Kiwis make better decisions about KiwiSaver for their future,” Mackay says.

Wild has more than 17 years’ experience in developing and executing brand, sales, and marketing strategies for iconic brands and spent seven years at Fisher Funds.

“Aurora’s approach is a novel one in the market, and with such a strong focus on advice as the centre of our client relationships, we can offer a level of personalised service that’s hard to beat. In these volatile times, it’s crucial clients have full confidence in their financial plans and through high-quality advice, we can help Kiwis plan the retirement they truly deserve,” says Wild.

Ian Coates, who has been general manager, is leaving Auroa.

FMA’S INTERNATIONAL CHIEF ECONOMIST RECRUIT RESIGNS AFTER TWO YEARS

Stuart Johnson , the first chief economist at the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), has resigned after less than two years in the role.

A spokesperson for the FMA said there has been no decision on whether Johnson would be replaced.

The appointment was made as the FMA focused on becoming significantly more research-driven, and data and intelligence-led.

The spokesperson says, “Stuart built a strong economics team who will continue to progress the FMA’s research and analysis agenda in the meantime.” A

SHARON MACKAY

MARCUS WILD

Don’t let the FMA put the fear of God into you

Katrina Church from The Insurance People tells GRTV what it’s like to get a monitoring visit from the Financial Markets Authority.

GRTV: WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING WHICH EVERY ADVISER PROBABLY NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT- VISITS FROM THE FMA. ADVISERS ARE PRETTY SCARED ABOUT MONITORING VISITS, AREN'T THEY? SO WHEN YOU GET YOUR LETTER FROM THE FMA AND IT SAYS, WE'RE COMING TO SEE YOU, WHAT DID YOU THINK? HOW DID YOU FEEL?

Katrina: Every time I mention I had a monitoring visit, the adviser that I'm talking to will absolutely show me the fear of God that they actually have about that meeting. And myself included, I've been doing this for a long time, and I think I run a really good practice.

There's always room for improvement - our heart is very much clear there, but it would be fair to say that when I was doing the AIA Adviser Wellbeing survey years ago, the one thing that really stood out for me, even back then, was the fear that I had about that visit.

Not because we weren't doing the right thing, but just because they might come in and actually change the world that we were working in and that we weren't able to actually meet their expectations. Because you've just got this unknown factor.

GRTV: WHAT DID YOUR BUSINESS PARTNER, SIMON FISHER, THINK AT THE TIME?

Katrina: Well, it was really funny. We all, three of us, myself, my husband Matt Church, who runs the ops and the business analysis side of our business, we all received the email at the same time. So you receive an email saying, we're coming for a visit. And we rang each other simultaneously and sort of here we go, game on. And it really was like that. We spent that weekend having a little think about it and then we just went into action mode.

GRTV: WHAT DID THE EMAIL SAY?

Katrina: So, the first email is to say it's happening. The second email, which is usually within a working week, has a list of things that you need to provide. Now, I was really fortunate that a little fairy gave me that list early on a couple of years ago. There's a tonne of stuff that you need to deliver.

GRTV: WELL, A LITTLE FAIRY GAVE ME A COPY OF IT AS WELL. AND WHEN I READ IT, I SAT THERE AND I THOUGHT, OKAY, IF I GOT A LETTER LIKE THAT, IT WOULD BE QUITE SCARY. IT WAS ASKING FOR A HUGE AMOUNT OF THINGS, LIKE ALL YOUR CLIENTS IN THE LAST TWO YEARS AND ABOUT ALL YOUR PROCESSES. AND SO IT LOOKED LIKE A LOT OF HOMEWORK TO ME.

Katrina: Well, it is a lot of homework if you haven't already got yourself ready for it right.

We were ready-er, if that is such a word. But it doesn't take away from the fact that you've just got to have everything. So what do we know about the industry? We all put these wonderful process operations manuals, we've put all of these processes into place, we've got all these registers up the wazoo, but I think we also need to constantly be reviewing them. So we all did this work a few years ago, but then we also have evolved our businesses. We change, it's an ever-changing environment. And it's that, have you kept everything up-todate? Does everyone in your business actually understand those processes?

GRTV: YOU CAN'T JUST PUT A PROCESS IN PLACE, WRITE IT OUT AND THEN JUST EXPECT IT TO STAY THE SAME. YOU HAVE TO KEEP UPDATING IT.

Katrina: Well, you’re dealing with humans. So for instance, one of the things you have to supply is your

complaints register. We don’t have a complaints register. We have a dissatisfaction register in our office. And we were very clear about that from the beginning because the only way that you can have business improvement, the only way that you can add value, the only way that you can have a better customer experience is actually when you learn from the things that get in the way of making things happier and easier for clients.

GRTV: SO JUST TO CLARIFY THAT, SO A COMPLAINT IS WHEN SOMEONE COMES ALONG AND SAYS, YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG, BUT YOU HAVE DISSATISFACTION. SO IF I WAS A CLIENT AND I SAID, OH, WELL I'M NOT HAPPY WITH THE WAY YOU DID THIS.

Katrina: Well, I'm not happy with the way the insurer conducted themselves, or I'm not happy with this outcome on a claim, or I'm not comfortable that it's taken three weeks for an insurer to actually load my direct debit. Those sorts of things are what we actually end up dealing with on every given day. And so there's things that you can do if you're having a dissatisfaction register. And I'm really glad we did it this way because then the FMA, when they did come and visit, they could see our intent on actually fixing things and making sure things were always improving.

GRTV: AND WE TALKED A BIT ABOUT BUSINESS REPLACEMENT RULES. CAN YOU SORT OF TELL ME ABOUT HOW YOU WENT THROUGH THAT WITH THE FMA AND WHAT YOU GUYS DO?

Katrina: It's one of my little passions and my little hobby horses as well about how the industry can do better. So we've always had what we call a business replacement register. One of the things

they want to see very clearly is what is your advice to business replacement rules and so forth.

So, the best way to actually illustrate that is the way in which we conduct ourselves. So every single case that we submit to insurer, we don't rely on a file review three months after the fact. It's actually put through a file review as it's going through. My files are reviewed, Simon's files are reviewed, everyone's files are reviewed as we submit and until we get ready to issue, if it's new business. And you are very clearly articulating the differences between here's what they have and this is what they have now here's the things around disclosure checks, here's the things around the differences of health. And there is very much a moral check every time.

Have we left this client in a better position than what we did before?

So, we were able to articulate and visualise that for the FMA. But I put that challenge out to everybody, and I put that challenge out to everyone that's in a supervision role within an organisation, are they actually doing that at the right side of the ledger or are they doing it later on when the file's actually complete?

GRTV: THAT'S A GOOD POINT. AND GOVERNANCE, IT'S SOMETHING EVERYONE, ALL ADVISERS NEED TO THINK ABOUT. AND YOU'RE MAKING THE COMMENT THAT YOU CAN HAVE ALL THESE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, BUT THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY GOOD GOVERNANCE. SO WHAT TO YOU IS GOOD GOVERNANCE?

Katrina: If there was one thing that came out of the whole experience, which for us was a positive experience, we

felt safe that we'd done all the things that we needed to do - we saw some improvements as we went through the process of supplying all the information. And we did see a huge progression from two years ago to what we do now.

But the biggest thing that we saw in ourselves was how we are governing and the process and the structure that we need to have more around that.

GRTV: SO JUST TO WIND UP, CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TELLING THEM WHAT YOU DO AND THE VALUE OF ADVICE AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND IT?

Katrina: That comes back to that getting ready to be ready. So you're going to spend all this time putting the stuff together to send to the FMA and then they're going to ask you for a tonne of files. We had 30 files that we needed to deliver and the moving dates of that, etcetera. And then they come for a visit and you know what they're going to talk about over that three-and-a-half days that they were in our office, keeping in mind we had three different types of business.

We had fire and general, we had mortgages and we had risk. So we had different team members and advisers coming in. If you're spending all your time trying to put all that stuff together, you're not thinking about how am I going to answer these questions to show them the value of what we do?

And it came through really clearly, the advocacy that we do at claim time, the advocacy that we do within the industry to improve things. I do a lot of work in that space. I enjoy challenging insurers and challenging other brokers on how they do

things because it all makes us better and better in the industry.

And they really got that. They really saw those claims that were declined, that we got overturned. And if there is anything I would love the FMA to maybe look at more is how are businesses actually managing claims?

We can't abdicate the responsibility of that. You can't abdicate business replacement responsibility. You've got to be evidencing that you're doing it. But I don't know if they spent much time on that in the past. So I'm hoping that by the work that we did with them, that we might've left them with a few other questions to think about, which is really cool.

Hopefully you've done the work beforehand and that you have got yourself to be ready. I really want us to as an industry, look at how we evidence it stronger. I had the blessing of seeing Nigel Latta recently. Nigel is obviously going through his own journey and one of the things he did actually say to us is the first person he called the day after he and his wife had spent some time reflecting on what the diagnosis was, was his insurance adviser. And that's pretty impressive. That's the role that we play. His quote, we give lifeboats not iceberg compensation. So I want to leave us all thinking about that. It's our job to honour that and it's our job to evidence that. So the FMA can see that magic that we do create and long may it continue.

This interview has been edited for clarity. You can watch the full interview at www. goodreturns.co.nz/article/976523404 and listen to it as a podcast. A

KATRINA CHURCH

Introducing Perpetual Guardian Investments

People, purpose, and prose: The triple engine powering New Zealand’s ‘old but new’ investment funds manager

BY TIM CHESTERFIELD, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, PERPETUAL GUARDIAN INVESTMENT

If you ask a successful chief executive about the key to their achievements, chances are they’ll say they surround themselves with people smarter than they are. The best leaders don’t pretend to have all the answers – they empower others to find them. Running an investment management firm with nearly 150 years of history while maintaining the agility needed to thrive in the fast-moving world of 2025 requires exactly that mindset.

Perhaps it’s my background as a longdistance runner that informs my approach to global asset allocation and investment. Both require patience, precise timing, and a relentless drive to keep pushing forward, regardless of the conditions.

As CIO, I lead a team of skilled professionals in delivering high-quality investment solutions within a robust governance framework. With over 30 years of hands-on experience across New Zealand, Australia, the US, the UK, and Europe, I’ve honed the ability to construct strong, diversified portfolios. I was an early adopter of exchange-traded funds back in 2008, and I continue to embrace innovation to ensure our clients get the best possible outcomes.

A team built for a new era

At Perpetual Guardian Investments (PGI), we work with clients who are highly experienced investors themselves – people who have built businesses, managed assets across multiple classes, and, in many cases, overseen the distribution of wealth for philanthropic and charitable causes. They expect excellence, and we are committed to delivering it.

Over the past three years, we’ve assembled a passionate, expert team. Our 13-strong investment group includes senior portfolio managers Christopher Jardine and Sara Syed, senior global fixed interest manager Garth Fletcher, investment analyst Gordon Sims, and reporting analyst Josh Mattingley. Portfolio manager Brian Stewart, along with our compliance, business development, and operations teams, ensure that every facet of our investment strategy is managed with precision and care.

Our board is equally strong. It includes Patrick Gamble, CEO of Perpetual Guardian Group, and chair Ben Heap, a seasoned director, founder, venture capitalist, and global asset manager. With deep local and international expertise, we bring global best practices to New Zealand’s investment landscape.

What unites us? A relentless passion for investing – not just in assets, but in ideas, strategies, and, most importantly, people. We don’t settle for the status quo. We think bigger, push boundaries,

and constantly seek ways to deliver more value to our clients.

Investment for every New Zealander

Kiwis have a deep-rooted DIY mentality, and we respect that. Transparency and control matter. That’s why we’re focused on providing our clients with the tools to take charge of their financial futures. Soon, investors will be able to build and manage their own portfolios through our platform – whether they’re just getting started, looking to diversify, or seeking a full-service global investment strategy.

Our investment offerings are flexible. Clients can integrate them into a broader portfolio or use them as a comprehensive, globally diversified strategy. No matter their needs, our goal remains the same: to treat every investor – individual or institution – as a valued partner and to build trust through performance and service.

Beyond the numbers: A different kind of investment communication

Most investment managers send out a monthly newsletter packed with performance updates and market commentary. That’s fine. It’s what many investors expect. But we believe in going deeper.

Markets are complex, and understanding the “why” behind performance matters just as much as knowing the “what.” Our approach to communication is analytical, insightful, and proactive. We don’t just tell clients what’s happened – we help them understand the forces shaping the market and what’s coming next. Whether they want to dig into the data themselves or rely on our expertise, we make sure they have the information they need.

This commitment to transparency and education is crucial, especially for clients managing philanthropic funds, family offices, and charitable trusts. Smart investing isn’t just about generating returns – it’s about protecting and growing wealth in a way that makes a meaningful difference.

Our simple goals: Trust, performance, and growth

Distinguishing yourself in financial services isn’t easy. Kiwis, by nature, are creatures of habit. Consumer NZ’s 2024 banking satisfaction survey found that 84% of respondents had been with their bank for at least five years, yet only 61% were “very satisfied” with the service.

However, the Financial Markets Authority reports that in 2023 New Zealanders made around 130,000 KiwiSaver provider changes and almost 370,000 fund switches. This tells us something important: While many people stick with their financial institutions out of habit, they’re not afraid to take action when they see a better option.

Our job is to make sure they find that better option with us – and once they do, to ensure they never feel the need to look elsewhere. We achieve this through strong investment performance, transparent communication, and empowering our clients with the tools and knowledge they need.

A national and global perspective

Our funds are designed to meet a range of investment needs. We offer:

• The Global Alternatives Fund, an absolute return strategy with low correlation to interest rates and equities.

• The High Conviction Fund, an actively managed portfolio of high-quality Australian and New Zealand equities.

• The New Zealand Bond Fund, an actively managed fixed-interest portfolio.

While we are proudly a New Zealand business, we have a global perspective. We have 16 branches in New Zealand and collaborate with leading investment brands, including BlackRock, UBS, Adminis, and FTSE Russell. Our adoption of FTSE Russell’s Climate Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) indices reflects our commitment to responsible investing in New Zealand and Australia.

At the heart of everything we do is a simple yet powerful investment goal: To protect and grow the capital entrusted to us by our clients. Every decision we make is guided by that principle, ensuring that we build not just wealth, but trust, longterm relationships, and lasting financial security. A

Part of the Perpetual Guardian Group, Perpetual Guardian Investments’ solutions are fully flexible and invest in New Zealand, Australian, global equities and property alongside New Zealand, Australian, and International fixed interest investments. www.perpetualguardian.co.nz

1https://investnow.co.nz/switching-kiwisaver-the-hidden-cost-and-how-to-avoidit/#:~:text=To%20avoid%20the%20out%2Dof,when%20you%20first%20 join%20KiwiSaver.

PATRICK GAMBLE

Invest ahead of the curve.

A $100,000 investment in the New Zealand Growth Fund at inception in 1998 would have been worth $1.75 million by the end of 2024, compared to $1.04 million from the S&P/NZX 50 benchmark.* Because for 26 years, our New Zealand Growth Fund has backed leading Kiwi companies to deliver an annualised return of 11.4%, earning a top quartile ranking for performance over 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10 years, as rated by Morningstar.

Connect with a business development manager today. Email partnerships@fisherfunds.co.nz

The market’s journey continued here Rising and falling through shifting economic conditions. It carried the weight of legacy Our investment journey started here. It built slowly and gainedmomentumasour portfoliomanagersnavigated shifting markets, $100k

August 1998

Financial Forecasts 25

Welcome to Financial Forecasts 25. In this series of articles, we look at issues that advisers need to focus on and be thinking about over the next 12 months. While uncertainty is a word which comes to mind when we look at what is happening around the world, we can come back to stability in our sector.

Shaping the future of advice

Financial Advice New Zealand chief executive Nick Hakes outlines the future of advice.

NICK HAKES

March marks the 12-month anniversary of returning to New Zealand and stepping into the role to lead Financial Advice New Zealand in its next evolution of success. Now is a good time to pause, and reflect, on the discussions I have had with Government officials, regulators, media, and most importantly financial advisers to date, and think what the year ahead may hold for our advice community.

If I compare our operating environment and policy settings to other markets, there are a lot of positives we should focus on.

Globally, financial advice is at an inflection point as it makes the transition from a product-led conversation to an advice-led conversation with consumers. The demographic shift and intergenerational transfer of wealth is well documented, Stats NZ estimates that by 2028 one million Kiwis will be aged over 65 – and yet while consumers’ interaction with the financial services sector is almost mandatory, their level of engagement is not.

The opportunity for our profession to grow the demand for quality advice is through engaging the hearts and minds of consumers.

Advice-led curiosity

Through the consumer research and industry white papers we undertake in collaboration with our strategic partners such as Financial Planning Standards Board, PAA Legacy Trust, and Massey University Fin-Ed Centre, we can see a consumer trend unfolding where the

value of advice is increasingly because of complex relationship and/or lifestage needs.

An advice-led approach to consumer engagement that combines financial modelling with a counselling or coaching style, along with deepening the financial understanding of the client, is likely to be most effective, and the most valuable for clients.

In our first Connect Tour last year, we launched the professional development framework for the modern financial adviser which included a new knowledge domain of self-development and the psychology of advice.

This adviser education framework was the forerunner to the Financial Planning Standards Board new global standards that formally embeds psychology into the curriculum of adviser education.

Modern advisers and advice practices who embrace curiosity and knowledge from the social sciences such as psychology and coaching and embed it into their advice process and client value proposition will be well placed to ride the demographic tide of wealth transfer in the years ahead.

High-touch, low-cost, high-tech

As advice practices increasingly solve more complex problems for clients, downward pressures on revenue streams and margins means successful businesses will need to create efficiencies and scalability in the provision of their advice through technology.

How to deliver greater back-office efficiencies with the desire for greater client engagement and user experience

will be the pursuit of an advice model that can be described as high-touch, lowcost, and high-tech.

A national strategy for financial capability

Last November the Retirement Commission launched its updated national strategy for financial capability 2025 - 2027 and Financial Advice New Zealand is proud to lead, support, and inspire a new cross-sector initiative entitled the value of professional financial advice through life’s defining moments.

The ability of our advice sector to encourage more Kiwis to seek financial advice is directly linked to how we are perceived by consumers and the consumer perception debate will take place within the hearts and minds of the consumer whether advisers are involved or not.

This new work stream within the national strategy for financial capability is a consumer-focused narrative to ensure Kiwis start engaging with financial advisers from a young age, through all their life defining moments. It has the opportunity for our profession to reframe the advice conversation and positively respond to changes in consumer expectations.

Ultimately, I see a future where financial advisers are seen as trusted professionals and more Kiwis have the confidence to actively seek them out to help them grow, manage, and protect their wealth.

Collectively, we can shape the future of advice.

Trends in advice for 2025 and beyond

• Be curious and solve more complex problems for clients

• Embrace technology as an enabler not a disruptor

• Celebrate great advice stories that positively shape the future of financial advice A

Nick Hakes is the chief executive of Financial Advice New Zealand

When it comes to financial advice there is a real feeling that things have settled down after the disruption and uncertainty which came with new rules two years ago. The composition of the advice profession has changed with many younger people starting out their careers as the old guard hang up their shingles.

Financial Advice NZ chief executive Nick Hakes provides you with his thoughts on the future of advice in this feature.

The other change we are seeing is a greater interest in KiwiSaver. In this feature Fisher Funds discusses the next evolution of KiwiSaver investing which is the greater use of private assets.

And for insurance advisers Naomi Ballantyne has an excellent piece on what insurers and advisers should be thinking about to avoid the pitfalls of the past.

- Philip Macalister

Fisher Funds Management Limited is the issuer of the Fisher Funds Managed Funds and the PDS can be found at fisherfunds.co.nz. Past performance is not indicative of future performance or returns. Returns can be positive or negative and vary over time. Returns are not promised or guaranteed. Returns are cumulative returns after all fees and before tax. New Zealand companies invested in include Infratil, Mainfreight, Ryman Healthcare, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Port of Tauranga, Summerset, Auckland Airport, Xero, and Vulcan. Data sourced from Morningstar rankings for New Zealand equity fund returns to 31 December 2024. *NZSE40 and NZX50, as relevant for the period. f legacy businessesshrinkingfromtheirglorydays.Intheend,themarketstayedwiththemarket.Meetingexpectations, but not exceedingthem. markets, seekingopportunitiesandmanagingrisksinweakersectors.WeinvestedinNewZealand

'Staying Active': it's what keeps you healthy and has delivered superior returns

in New Zealand equities

At Fisher Funds, we are staunch advocates of active investing – that means carefully selecting what we're invested in and adjusting it over time. On the other hand, passive investing is blindly building a portfolio based on a market index.

BY MATT PEEK

Active investment management often gets a bad rap, with the blanket presumption that passive managers all do better after fees. Wrong.

The reality is more nuanced, especially based on evidence in the New Zealand market. In fact, we believe that active management is essential for achieving superior returns over time. For one, passive manager returns inherently can never even reach the benchmark they follow, after deducting fees.

Unlike some overseas markets, New Zealand equities active managers as a group have a commendable track record. Over the past 10 years, 2015 through 2024, the average annualised return of the actively managed funds investing in

the New Zealand shares category (as measured by the Morningstar survey) is 10.3% per year, or 9.9% setting our own returns aside. This is significantly higher than the 8.8% average return of the passive managed funds (all after fees and before tax).

Active managers are not all created equal

Of course, success is not uniform across all active managers; it depends on factors like the team culture, the ability to cultivate and attract talent, and a welldefined and tested investment process. In my mind it’s like how some sports franchises can consistently perform well by getting the right back-office people, building a culture of success, and refining

it over time. Like the All Blacks or Black Ferns in rugby, Barcelona in football, or the Boston Celtics in the NBA. They won't win every competition, but on average they achieve superior results compared to their competitors over time.

The Fisher Funds approach has a long track record of success

Fisher Funds was founded in 1998 and has always had a research-led approach to active investing ingrained in our DNA. Our investment process is built to identify the small subset of companies that have wide economic 'moats' (in Warren Buffett parlance) – rare qualities in their business that drive superior performance over time.

Our take on active management has

‘We believe active management done well can continue to deliver superior returns. ’

been tested and proven successful over the long term. Over the last 10 years, the New Zealand Growth Fund’s return is higher than the average of both our active and passive peers at 11.1% per year.

Why does smart active management outperform?

The magic of active management is in the execution. It allows you to benefit from owning more of the outperformers and less of the underperformers.

Hitching our wagon to big winners and holding them for the long term has been key to our success. We've identified and invested in companies like Mainfreight, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Infratil, Summerset, and Xero – businesses with long growth runways and superior business models, run by talented and aligned management. Mainfreight and Infratil have been in our fund since the very beginning and remain important holdings.

We have also benefited from owning strong past performers like Sky TV, but our active style has meant we've exited these before their demise in favour of better ideas, whereas passive index funds

10 YEARS ANNUALISED RETURNS

have continued to own them all the way down.

On the flip side, companies like Fletcher Building and The Warehouse have underperformed significantly over the past decade. What’s more, they can represent large parts of the benchmark index. We think the best investment decision with such companies is to have zero exposure, whereas passive funds are forced to hold these.

We are likely to see poor-performing active managers continue to switch to

passive strategies and argue it is hard to outperform the market. Meanwhile, we believe active management done well can continue to deliver superior returns. A

Matt Peek is the Portfolio Manager NZ Equities at Fisher Funds (including the New Zealand Growth Fund).

Fisher

Embracing private assets in KiwiSaver to improve long term

Investments in private assets remain unchartered territory for many KiwiSaver providers, despite them featuring prominently in the portfolios of some of the world’s most successful superannuation and sovereign wealth funds.

BY ASHLEY GARDYNE, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT FISHER FUNDS

f legacy businessesshrinkingfromtheirglorydays.Intheend,themarketstayedwiththemarket.Meetingexpectations, but not exceedingthem. markets, seekingopportunitiesandmanagingrisksinweakersectors.WeinvestedinNewZealand

Investments in areas like private equity, venture capital and infrastructure can provide access to high-growth companies early on their journey and before they hit the stock market, or exposure to the build-out of critical digital or renewable energy infrastructure. The long-term commitments required to make these types of investments are also ideally suited to KiwiSaver – where many investors have an expected investment timeframe of decades.

If we want New Zealanders to get to retirement in the best possible shape, private market investments can play an important role – by lifting expected returns, adding diversification, and potentially providing other risk mitigants like inflation protection.

A natural evolution

For well over a decade governmentrelated entities have been leading the charge domestically in private market investing. Both NZ Super and ACC have well established and successful programs, and it is the private sector that has been behind the curve in making the shift long choreographed by our global peers. For example, some Australian superannuation funds have 20% allocations to private markets.

markets. This isn’t a trivial point, as even an extra 0.5% return per annum on your KiwiSaver investments could result in tens of thousands of extra dollars in retirement.

With fewer new companies being listed on stock exchanges, investments in areas like venture capital and private equity can also provide access to investments in sectors that are becoming underrepresented on public exchanges.

Making a start

New Zealand has plenty of talented entrepreneurs and high-quality businesses that could benefit from new capital and expertise to help them scale and reach their full potential. With over $120 billion dollars invested in KiwiSaver today, there is also now plenty of capital available.

asset classes, or potentially selectively making direct investments.

Managing the risks

No asset class is without its risks. Listed equities feature prominently in most diversified portfolios – but are regularly subject to intense bursts of volatility. Private market investments have their own unique risks – with liquidity risk and valuation transparency & timing being two examples that are frequently given.

As with the risks posed by other asset classes, these need to be considered carefully. They also need to be considered in the context of how they may change the risk profile of the portfolio they are being added to.

December 2024

Fisher Funds Management Limited is the issuer of the Fisher Funds Managed Funds and the PDS can be found at fisherfunds.co.nz.

Past performance is not indicative of future performance or returns. Returns can be positive or negative and vary over time. Returns are not promised or guaranteed. Returns are cumulative returns after all fees and before tax. New Zealand companies invested in include Infratil, Mainfreight, Ryman Healthcare, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Port of Tauranga, Summerset, Auckland Airport, Xero, and Vulcan.

The appeal of investments in areas like private equity lies in the potential for superior risk-adjusted returns, with these asset classes having a long history of delivering higher returns than public

Data sourced from Morningstar rankings for New Zealand equity fund returns to 31 December 2024. *NZSE40 and NZX50, as relevant for the period.

A handful of KiwiSaver providers are already moving in this direction. At Fisher Funds we have invested in direct commercial property for well over a decade, and in recent years have added investments in areas like private credit (lending to private New Zealand enterprises and projects), private equity (through established domestic firms like Movac, Pioneer and Direct Capital), and infrastructure development (through our investment in Lodestone Energy). As KiwiSaver providers scale and add more capability to their investment teams, the breadth and depth of these private market investment programmes will continue to grow. This may include new

With scale, KiwiSaver providers should have depth in their investment and operational capabilities, and the ability to manage the nuances of private market investments. While private assets do create some complexities, these have been well managed by offshore superannuation schemes for many years. While it’s early days, the move into private markets has already begun. We see this as a key step to help lift returns and ultimately drive higher balances for Kiwis in retirement. A

Ashley Gardyne is the Chief Investment Officer at Fisher Funds

Forewarned is forearmed – here’s how the insurance sector can avoid signs of madness

BY NAOMI BALLANTYNE (ONZM)

When Philip Macalister suggested I might write an article for him about my thoughts on the year ahead for the life Insurance industry, my immediate reaction was to say no.

What value could I provide to his audience a year after my retirement?

But as I thought about the governance and consulting roles I still play both here in the New Zealand industry, as well as across Asian markets, I have come to appreciate that perhaps my more ‘’helicopterish’’ view might be of some current relevance to advisers.

The world is in a place of significant uncertainty today and New Zealand cannot be immune from the impacts of whatever the world’s super powers decide to do, but for us the most likely impacts will be financial rather than physical.

That is likely to mean more global financial volatility, potentially increasing the frequency of recessions and/or boom periods for us.

The duration of the pain the industry has been feeling in our current recession cannot yet be predicted – even though inflation and interest rates have fallen.

In our industry in New Zealand, contradictory things repeatedly happen when we are in a recession. Here’s the pattern I have observed in our industry over those recessions that I managed through during my career.

More existing customers lapse because of financial constraints (real or perceived) – leaving them extremely vulnerable at exactly a time when financial security should be close to their number one priority.

New business increases as the worried but financially well start to seek out our products.

Claims increase – stress will do that to customers.

Insurers start looking for costs to cut –often looking to introduce products that

are less claimable and more affordable for customers, and/or distribution channels that seem less demanding –and cutting staff. Sometimes this is to an extent that negatively affects service, causing more stress for advisers and customers - not to mention the nowunemployed staff.

Shareholders, many of whom are not from the New Zealand market, often expect profits to remain within their growth expectations despite recessionary pressures, which risks inducing a focus on short-term profitboosting strategies at the expense of sustainable growth strategies.

Advisers often become overwhelmed with trying to prevent customers from lapsing valuable covers; restructuring covers in a way that will satisfy regulatory expectations while trying to meet client affordability needs; helping more clients claim; and navigating poorer insurer service at the same time. These are activities that are all difficult to do and which reduce the adviser’s income as a result. There is little to no time or energy available to them to also lobby insurers against any strategies which they believe might be of detriment to their customers or their own business outcomes, meaning the customer and adviser voice can get lost in the decisionmaking processes of Insurers.

Some advisers will leave the industry in the face of this stress; others may instead opportunistically roll existing customers in order to earn new commissions, using customer affordability as their reasoning, driving up lapses rather than preventing them.

These are all understandable responses from all of these parties.

But what I have learnt is that this too shall pass. Recessions do not last forever. Inflation will subside, wages will increase, unemployment will reduce, lapsed policies will be reinstated, insurers will start competing for adviser

distribution again with new customer value propositions, and premiums will be able to be successfully adjusted to reflect actual claims experience.

And in my experience, those businesses that continued with their growth strategies throughout the hard times, are generally those that benefit the quickest when markets right themselves.

The really surprising thing to me looking at today’s market is just how all of the same actions from the past seem to be repeating themselves – almost like today’s market participants don’t know that their current strategies have already been tried before – and that they can expect the same results this time - unless of course they are showing the first signs of madness!

In the face of that increasing global financial volatility, it has never been more important that every business develops an advance plan for how they intend to avoid or minimise those historical recessionary outcomes, and then just implement the plan at the appropriate times - adjusting it as further learnings arise.

That could mean advisers who have a well-considered communication message and strategy in place to identify and target their vulnerable customers before those customers start hiding from them and cancelling their covers. In those cases, the customers are thinking only of their current premium strain and not the long-term financial devastation that could be awaiting them as a result of their actions.

Having systems and processes ready to go and having a plan in place to follow can protect customers from bad decisions, lessen the distress of the adviser’s job, and tangibly evidence their expertise and ethics in the face of any regulatory scrutiny.

Insurers should have product features designed and priced that will step up

‘Recessions do not last forever.’

to the plate in a recession to support vulnerable customers (and their advisers) so they can keep their covers in place while they get through the hard times –engaging with customers even when they are not needing to claim, something the industry has talked a lot about with little action so far.

their own staff employed as a result.

Fisher Funds Management Limited is the issuer of the Fisher Funds Managed Funds and the PDS can be found at fisherfunds.co.nz.

And insurers should have redeployment and training plans in place which allow them to increase their service levels during times of financial difficulty –because to do so will ease, instead of add to, the distress for their customers and advisers – and allow them to keep more of

Advisers and ratings houses can also work to place enough value on special product features and services during the times when they are not yet needed –because they know that that they will be extremely valuable when they are needed. This is something we all should know by now will happen again.

Data sourced from Morningstar rankings for New Zealand equity fund returns to 31 December 2024. *NZSE40 and NZX50, as relevant for the period. f legacy businessesshrinkingfromtheirglorydays.Intheend,themarketstayedwiththemarket.Meetingexpectations, but not exceedingthem. markets, seekingopportunitiesandmanagingrisksinweakersectors.WeinvestedinNewZealand

that recession passes too – without compromising their sustainable longer term growth strategies. This is something that shareholders will need to understand and embrace, and something that will position them extremely well when bust turns to boom – as it inevitably will.

Past performance is not indicative of future performance or returns. Returns can be positive or negative and vary over time. Returns are not promised or guaranteed. Returns are cumulative returns after all fees and before tax. New Zealand companies invested in include Infratil, Mainfreight, Ryman Healthcare, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Port of Tauranga, Summerset, Auckland Airport, Xero, and Vulcan.

And finally, insurers and advisers can grow and set aside a financial safety net during boom times to have certainty that when the next recession happens, they can withstand the increased lapses, claims, and costs for long enough until

Remember that the first sign of madness is doing the same things but expecting different results, so we all need a plan to help prove there are none of those signs of madness in our industry. A

Naomi Ballantyne is the chair ofTAP Group Limited

Earlier this month Nikko AM hosted its annual Investment Summit, with events in Wellington and Auckland exploring global trends, local insights and the impact for New Zealand investors across a range of asset classes. Amid all the detailed analysis provided by a range of expert speakers, one theme stood out – that in 2025, wherever you are in the world, the only certainty is more uncertainty.

In times like these, investors tend to look to protect themselves from the downsides without shutting themselves off entirely from exposure to the up. In this respect, the New Zealand bond market, and especially corporate bonds, look set to offer attractive value especially compared to where cash rates are likely to settle.

The global perspective

While there is a strong argument that the new regime of tariffs and trade wars will slow economies, it is also possible geopolitical tension could actually be economically stimulatory, as nations are encouraged in this new world (dis) order to increase their defence spending. Slowing global growth is the more likely of the two outcomes though, which will likely bring lower inflation, to the benefit of bond investors.

Balancing the equation

So, what does this mean for investors seeking some protection from falling deposit and cash rates? NZ’s Corporate Bond market can be characterised as narrow, but high quality: banks, Local Government and listed companies with reliable cashflows and multiple ways through which to protect their balance sheet, issuing bonds with three to 10 yearplus maturities.

Having a stock exchange weighted to income-producing rather than growth stocks sets us apart globally in terms of reliability for investment grade bonds, with the US corporate issuance market,

NZ Fixed income: What to expect in 2025

BY FERGUS MCDONALD

for example, leaning heavily on cyclical sectors like pipelines and energy.

Reliability is only part of the investment equation though. As investors, you’ll naturally want to experience this alongside, rather than at the expense of profitability. As the RBNZ, like other Central Banks around the world, battled to tame inflation, the yield curve had until as recently as six months ago been inverted, with short-term rates higher than long-term. But with the inflation lion back in its cage, and the curve once again on its more traditional upward trajectory, long-maturity bonds now seem to be able to tick both boxes.

Government 10-year bonds are today offering returns of 4.5%, so already a 1.5% pick up (or carry) over where NZ cash rates are likely to be. Our view is that this makes them an attractive proposition, with even greater yields available through Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) and Corporate bonds.

Carry and roll

But with confidence that even if inflation returns – and the RBNZ has already indicated its expectation for this to happen to some degree – cash rates will remain in a fairly neutral state, it’s not all about the carry.

With an up-sloping yield curve, there is even greater value to be found further down the track. Indeed, as bonds move closer to maturity, credit margins tend to fall and can add an additional one per cent a year to your return on investment depending upon your investment timeframes. This roll benefit associated with quality issuers and a steep yield curve is a significant reason we don’t simply chase the highest yields in the portfolios we manage, but take a more balanced approach.

Going back to that balance of reliability and profitability, if the world implodes over the next few years, then the solid fundamentals of the NZ corporate bond market should make it a safe home for your capital to offset exposure to more

volatile investment classes – while continuing to comfortably outperform cash.

Who’s borrowing

Alongside the attractiveness of Government bonds, we should see an increase in issuance from the banks as they look to replace the low-cost borrowing they were granted through Covid times, particularly if they see an expansion of their balance sheets as the housing market picks up again.

After a slow-burn start, the reform of the water sector around the country will also require funding, as regions look to invest in water-metering and fund much needed infrastructure. And while we’re not expecting a large number of companies to issue bonds this year, it’s worth noting that the size of the market has increased. So although almost twothirds of New Zealand Government debt is held overseas and a number of issuers are diversifying their funding by borrowing offshore, opportunities for Kiwi bond investors will remain.

So what’s the strategy?

In a nutshell, we’re looking at lengthening our maturities to favour the steepest parts of the yield curve. While the recent GDP number was stronger than expected and there are signs, particularly from the regions with record milk payouts and a post-cyclone renaissance across our fruit sectors, that economic recovery is on the way, it’s by no means hurrying to get here. Therefore, with quality assets offering between 4.5 to 5.25% yields, we’re focused on achieving positive value through the near term with the expectation of generating even greater returns over time. A

This article does not constitute personal investment advice or a personal recommendation and it does not consider in any way the objectives, financial situation or needs of any recipients. All recipients are recommended to consult with their independent tax, financial and legal advisers prior to any investment.

Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year awards

Fund managers (and protesters) gathered in Auckland this month for the annual Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year awards.

Harbour Asset Management - now part of First Cape - took out the overall funds manager of the year award along with the domestic equities award.

The other two awards went to NZXowned Quaystreet for KiwiSaver and Nikko Asset Management for fixed interest.

Like last year no award was made for global equities as Morningstar said there were no eligible candidates

demonstrating suitable achievement across its award criteria.

“With peak inflation, growth uncertainty and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, the US elections, 2024 was a challenging year to navigate, even for the best investors” said Matt Olsen, Morningstar Australasia’s Director, Manager Research.

“Despite the turbulent past year, our nominated fund managers demonstrated an ability to deliver quality, highperforming investments and have stood above peers with exceptional returns over the longer term.”

Protesters from Don't Bank on Apartheid were rallying outside the awards against ASB - a finalist for the KiwiSaver of the Year Awards.

Their concern was that ASB's KiwiSaver had $14 million invested in Motorola, a firm, it says, supports the Israeli Defence Force which is causing overwhelming damage in Gaza and against the Palestinian people.

It says Motorola provides telecommunications, surveillance and technology to the Israel Defence Force and illegal Israeli settlements. A

PHOTOS: ALISHA LOVRICH 1. Winners! Harbour Asset Management co-CEOs Andrew Bascand and Chris Wilson. Ainsley McLaren and Shane Solly 2. Stasi Ellis, Generate KiwiSaver Scheme

3. Protesters target finalist ASB. 4. Winners: Matt Olsen, Morningstar, Catherine Pollock Quay Street

Management, Andrew Bascand, Harbour Asset Management, Murray Harris, Milford Asset Management 5. Murray Harris (Milford), Ana-Marie Lockyer (Pie Funds) and David Boyle (Fisher Funds) 6. Matt Olsen, Morningstar and Catherine Pollock from NZX 7. Thom Bentley, NZX and Morningstar’s Junyang Yan 8. David Boyle (Fisher Funds) 9. Crowd: Fund managers (and others) mingle before the awards ceremony kicks off

Old school adviser embraces technology

BY KIM SAVAGE

Nigel Rukuwai’s virtual notetaker arrives just moments before the man himself does on our Friday morning call.

Now in his 22nd year as an adviser and the head of Wealthpoint Nelson, the pandemic-driven rise of the virtual meeting is one of the bigger shifts Rukuwai has seen in the way clients prefer to communicate.

Now, of course, it is effortless business as usual.

“I have a number of farming clients, and the kids taking over, but they don’t want to drive over to Takaka every month or two.

“They're just happy to do a Zoom like this, and not have to clean their house or get changed out of their pyjamas.”

Two decades on from his early adviser days, Rukuwai confesses to being “old school”, making a point of meeting new clients in person and regularly calling in for a cuppa or two on his way past the gate of some of his acquaintances.

It makes good business sense, this client-centred approach.

Rukuwai now leads a mature business of two other financial advisers and four support staff, as well as taking on national leadership roles as director and chair of the Wealthpoint co-operative board.

“We look after the client and sometimes that means unwinding insurance and getting rid of different tools. That's fine, because we believe ultimately that will pay us back somewhere along the way, and it's usually a referral or whatever.

“That's not a tough business model to get your head around. You know, as sanctimonious as it sounds, it works.”

In Rukuwai’s view, offering clients a number of service specialties across a team proves more effective than the “oneman-band” (or woman) financial adviser model and is the way of the future.

The shining light that is KiwiSaver

With a background managing advisers in a general insurance business, Rukuwai, with his freshly-acquired MBA, made the leap to go out on his own in 2003.

He moved with his wife and two children to Nelson to represent the Wealthpoint co-operative there, and says he has never looked back.

“This whole being self-employed and running the business, that's not for everyone, but for me, that’s where the real test is. Can I run a business and give

‘My colleagues, thank goodness for them, were smarter than me and realised that from small nuggets grow big rocks’

Nigel Rukuwa

advice to clients? Can I build it from nothing?

“I was lucky. I had a large client base that I purchased, so I was up and running straight away, which was awesome. And I did that because I had an enforced superannuation plan with AMP back in the day, where they took 6% of my wages, but they put in 9% so very quickly over the 17 years, I worked in the GI space, I had a substantial deposit to buy my register when I left.

“I would have spent that if I wasn't enforced. And that's really what KiwiSaver is.”

Rukuwai says when KiwiSaver was first

‘Can I run a business and give advice to clients? Can I build it from nothing?’

conceived it was not an obvious addition to the advice he was giving on insurance.

“It’s embarrassing to say I didn't really see an opportunity in 2007 but my colleagues, thank goodness for them, were smarter than me and realised that from small nuggets grow big rocks, and they got into a lot of preferred provider agreements with a very large client base. We grew our KiwiSaver book that way.

“Now I believe it is our shining light in our strategic plan, that's the only thing we're looking to really focus on and just do the rest of the stuff as well as we do already.”

Advising on retirement savings is a no-brainer for any advice business, says Rukuwai, when clients are already receiving regular life and investment reviews.

“Why are we not talking to them about the KiwiSaver? Because that is significant, and far too much of it sits with poor performing funds or banks, and we can solve that problem for them. So it's very dear to my heart.

“It is wise to have many arrows in your quiver, and the one thing that stays relatively stable is a KiwiSaver book.

“Financially, if you just write risk in GI and risk really goes off the boil because the FMA does something or it goes quiet due to the cost of living, then your upfront income is impacted significantly.

“It’s investment 101, the more diversity of income, the stronger your business becomes.”

Next generation has the tech but not the finances

Whereas Rukuwai had superannuation funds to help support his entry to the adviser world, lack of capital remains the top barrier for younger financial advisers, he says.

“When I talk to younger advisors outside our group, and it'll be the same inside, they have barely just got their house going, and they just can't tap into any other funding.

“Likewise, the incumbents, like me, who own those assets can be reluctant to offer shareholding and vendor finance because you want to be careful who you're in business with.”

Rukuwai says young advisers need to think long-term about their own retirement and what they want it to look like. While business ownership is not for everyone and is challenging in the short term, it offers the best opportunity for advisers to create wealth, he says.

What is on young advisers’ side is the acceleration of technology like AI, which reduces the burden of backroom functions, allowing advisers to focus more on the advice side of the business.

“If you can look after more people with less people, and use technology to enable that, so that you can get across more people, and then you can offload all of the backroom stuff like compliance to your FAP.

“We look after the same amount of people today that 10 advisers did 20 years ago,” he says.

And he believes there are more efficiencies to be found in future, although he is happy with the size of the business and now wants to focus on how to add value for current clients.

Retirement looms for Rukuwai and leaving the business in good hands and the wellbeing of his team are top of mind as he plans his exit.

“I’ve got to live in this town with all my clients, right? So you know, clients are really good at one thing, feedback. You get it all the time.” A

Fergus McDonald is the head of bonds and currencies at Nikko AM.

Client focus nets returning adviser top award

Andrea Reid is focusing on serving existing clients well, rather than racing to grow book.

Andrea Reid says she and her husband, Sanjay Weerasinghe, recently had to stop themselves expanding their business dramatically.

They own Aliya, a Waikato insurance advice firm founded when they purchased a retiring adviser’s book of clients about three years ago.

While it might be common for a relatively new business to be pursuing a strong growth track, Reid said that was not her strategy.

“We did have an opportunity 18 months ago, a friend of ours who’s another adviser wanted to get out and offered us a book.

“We thought it would be brilliant and got excited, thinking ‘let’s do this’, then I said ‘hang on a minute, let’s take a step back. Why did we decide to do this in the first place? It was not to have work a 60hour week, which would have been what happened, and we’d have had to take on staff. That’s not where we are at.’’

Reid has been “in and out” of the advice industry since the early 1990s, when she started working for a medical insurance company. She was initially employed to do arrears calling but then switched to a tied adviser role.

She then had a stint in recruitment

before picking up a short-term contract at ACC, which turned into a management role. “I was there for 10 years in that role, managing some of the specialist claims units, accidental death, the lump sum unit, compensation, hearing loss and dental. All sorts of things during that period of time.

“Then they set up a new division where they had business development managers working with accountants and financial advisers to train them on Cover Plus Extra.”

After three years, she was approached by insurer Fidelity Life, which wanted to put a BDM into the Waikato, where it had not had one before.

“I had an interview with Milton Jennings where we talked about rugby for a while - and then had 10 years working as a Waikato/Bay of Plenty BDM for Fidelity. It was fabulous and I didn’t really realise until I came out as an adviser myself how much I learnt during that time.”

It was when the industry’s legislation changed that she had the opportunity to buy the book that led to Aliya. An adviser friend was turning 65 and had no desire to train for the level five certificate that would be required.

“We’d sold a house so money became

available to do that and my husband decided he would take a leap of faith with me and leave his role and train as an adviser to come with me into the business.”

She said they made a decision at the time that it was a lifestyle choice, to an extent. Their key focus was to look after the existing book of clients and any new business would come organically. “It’s not a big ‘grow and go out and hunt new business’ model. It’s only the two of us.”

She said it had been “reasonably full on” for the first few years, with a lot of claims being made. “In the last 18 months, there has been a lot of financial strife out there so there have been policy alterations while people tighten their belts. It takes a lot of time.”

Reid said they decided when they took the business on that they wanted to get to know the clients well, and that could not happen as easily if someone else was doing the admin work. “We decided we would do that ourselves, it’s a great way to get to know clients. You’ve got touch points with them, all the time.”

They talk to every client every year and send regular updates. Reid said she also tried to respond as quickly as possible to any contact from clients. “If I ring someone to get information or I need

something, I need it then not in three or four days’ time so I’m very much a fast follow-up person.”

Weerasinghe is about to turn 60 and Reid said, if were 10 or 15 years younger, they would have a totally different strategy. “it would be growth, but for the moment it’s looking after clients well and affording us a lifestyle that’s not having to work all hours of the day or night although you still have to sometimes, because you don’t know what’s going to come in the door.”

Reid said the industry had changed a lot over her time in it. Some changes were positive, and others not so much.

“It definitely needed to have a lot more professionalism brought into it. I used to deal with advisers in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato and the majority were professionals, doing the best they could.

firms with individual advisers than in the past. “Most new ones coming into the business are going to have to work for another bigger company to start out with and gain experience. It’s a very difficult industry to start from scratch on your own.”

But she said when she was a BDM there might have been a 10 percent or 20 percent success rate for new people coming into the industry. “Potentially with better systems in place now and with companies taking advisers on, insurance companies supporting with training –those people might be more likely to survive and stay in the industry.”

Even after 25-odd years involved, Reid said she was learning new things every day.

Reid recently won the Cary Veenhof Award from Fidelity, which is named in

The changes have probably, hopefully weeded out those who weren’t best suited to the industry.

The changes have probably, hopefully weeded out those who weren’t best suited to the industry. The guys who were just out door knocking. I think that’s been an improvement.”

But she said she had noticed the opportunity for networking with other advisers and learning from them had reduced since insurers were put under pressure not to offer events and trips that could be seen as sales incentives.

“I always found those get-togethers with casual conversations about ‘I’m using this system’, or ‘I’m doing this thing’ helpfulthose opportunities are a bit lost.”

The industry was more insular, she said, with people working on their own a lot more. Advisers were keeping a constant eye on compliance.

“Everyone is focused on are they doing the right thing, is the big stick going to come down at any stage. It’s a constant worry, there’s a lot more emphasis on ‘have you made a mistake somewhere’ because everyone is human and you might forget to put a note here or something there.”

Reid said it was a hard industry to start in and there were likely to be fewer small

memory of Fidelity Life’s former business manager and recognises advisers’ integrity, partnerships and customer service.

Veenhof did Reid’s training when she started with Fidelity. “He was just the loveliest man.”

Judges said she had a client-first approach, offered guidance during critical claim times, and this was reflected in her excellent NPS results.

Reid said the scores were a surprise. “I thought I must be doing something right if the scores were that high. I just try to explain things as clearly and as simply as possible. I’m conservative with clients’ money.”

She said most people needed “middleof-the-road cover”. “With insurance going up so much people can’t afford top-of-the range insurances for everything these days. I give them options to do the job and they can alter it here and there.”

She said she also tried to give some room for future flexibility, for example setting someone up with a small excess on their health insurance to give them room to lift it as they got older and wanted to reduce the extent of their

premium increases.

“You’ve got to have different levers to pull. With each client we look at their individual circumstances and the type of job they’re doing.”

She would often put people on a fiveyear income protection benefit rather than until age 65. “That’s simply based on claims statistics… that keeps costs down a lot. Only 3 percent pf income protection claims go to 65, 97 percent are gone within five years.”

She said most people, particularly in office jobs, would have some way to return to work. It was only people in the most physically demanding roles who might need protection in case they could never work again.

Some of the clients she has taken on with the book have had more insurance than they needed, she said. They might have had a big life insurance policy but have retired and sold a business and also have a $5 million home. “They don’t actually need the insurance. You have to go through and do the right thing for a client.”

Reid would like to retire when Weerasinghe turns 65 and at the moment their plan is for their son to come into the business and slowly take it over.

“Our son is quite interested in the financial side of things, he’s always had an interest in investment…he’s only 21.”

For Reid, one of the most satisfying aspects of the job is the problem solving – and being there at claim time. “Making sure the person is looked after and there is money coming In and everything is sort of ok. That’s where the rubber hits the road, when the claims are paid out and the solution to the problem is working.”

Reid would like to see the industry do more to promote itself as a professional space. “There’s a massive underinsurance problem in New Zealand.”

She often sees people in their 50s who don’t own a house and are working full-time with no money behind them. “They’re hugely exposed if anythign happens to them. But there’s an affordability issue as well.”

How the industry catered for those people would be a challenge, she said.

Reid said the industry had made leaps in terms of professionalism and now it was time for the public awareness of that to catch up. “That’s still coming.” A

The traits that underpin their business are strength, trust, wisdom and family, which are all symbolized in their name ALIYA; the Sinhalese word for Elephant.

Whilst this is a nod to Sanjay’s heritage, it is also the four values that the elephant is known for that upholds all of their interactions and advice to their clients.

In the headlights

David van Schaardenburg takes his annual look at the state of KiwiSaver: the returns, the fees, and the million Kiwis who belong to a scheme but don’t contribute.

Ican guarantee that between the time of writing and the publication of this magazine, many of my article comments will be made redundant by the passage of subsequent news.

In a few weeks the nations of Europe and the allied liberating forces will be commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Those 80 years have seen a period of unparalleled political stability and growth in economic prosperity across the democratic world. This has been achieved through a series of mutual defence pacts and agreements which reduced barriers to the free flow of capital and trade in goods and services.

There have been many setbacks and crises over those decades, however the one consistent has been multilateralism across the democratic world.

It is sad to say now that we stand on the cusp of a new world.

While we can all debate the logic or not of the trend back to nationalism and self interest, investors and advisers need to find a way to manage through this new and highly unpredictable playing field.

What should we be asking ourselves?

Simply, lots of questions we haven’t had to ask, or situations we haven’t had to think about during our investing lives.

For example;

• Is the exceptionalism of multinational corporations, especially US headquartered, at an end?

• By how much will our social welfare expenditures be diverted into increased military budgets?

• What onshoring capabilities will nations need to develop first? Will countries move back to supporting national champions in each critical industry in part via protectionist policies implemented via tariffs, import levies and licences?

• Should investors allocate more of their capital to their home market versus offshore investing?

‘Smart management and successful business models can be turned from winners to losers in an instant, based on the whim of nationalist politicians. And then they can be reversed again.

While none of these questions, or answers, have a feel good factor there will be winners and losers in this new environment - whether it is national economies, industries or companies.

How can financial advisers help their clients?

In this new and volatile reality, the ability of any financial expert to be predicting the future is meaningfully reduced.

Smart management and successful business models can be turned from winners to losers in an instant, based on the whim of nationalist politicians. And then they can be reversed again.

The economic impact of protectionalist policies is not well understood apart from being viewed as having a broadly negative impact on economic growth, in part through creating uncertainty and reduced confidence for businesses and households.

This in turn leads to declining capex intentions and consumption (this is starting to feel like 1930).

Most investors have multi-decade investment horizons. So while the present news flow is highly negative, there is no reason to panic.

Setbacks may be more frequent but staying the course is more likely to achieve superior returns than the bank, where there is a price to be paid for safety.

In times of uncertainty, effective diversification is an investor’s best friend.

The least costly and quickest way to instantly achieve that is via investing through index funds and products.

But that’s not the total solution as the standard market capitalisation weighted index can be a formula for buying excess and not value.

In contrast, active management, especially of a value philosophy, can be a great way to reduce portfolio volatility.

Hold your breath, cross your fingers

Reversion to the mean plus action and reaction are two of the most powerful forces in financial markets.

I have no idea who will be the investment winners over the next few years. However I do know that the winners of recent times are not likely to sustain that position and those industries and businesses that have been struggling are likely to be better positioned at some future point.

This highlights the role of both indexing and active investment management.

As the child of a survivor of the traumatic 1940s, I hope that at some point, soon, humanity prevails and the present drive towards pure self interest reverses. A

David van Schaardenburg is independent of any investment provider and is chief executive of the Ignite Adviser Network, which provides advice to over 15,000 investment clients.

‘While none of these questions, or answers, have a feel good factor there will be winners and losers ’

Making it stick –the challenges for insurance retention

BY RUSSELL HUTCHINSON

There is a strong argument for keeping your life and trauma insurance.

We can think of our own examples amongst our friends and family, but we were reminded by Dai Henwood at a recent Fidelity Life event and Nigel Latta at a recent nib event that cancer can happen to anyone.

We also know that the median age at which trauma insurance is claimed on is typically a few years older than the median age for cancelling trauma cover, courtesy of some analysis by Asteron Life a few years ago.

Consumer magazine picked up a story recently of a Partners Life client struggling to pay their premium after some higher-than-expected inflation rate increases, combined with typical rate for age adjustments, and some base rate increases for components of their cover.

These challenges are not limited to one insurer, they apply across the board. We

all know the story – high inflation, high interest rates, base rate increases, eyewatering levels of medical claims, and all that caught up in a period where there have been much higher home loan rates and a rise in unemployment.

Some customers may be having to prioritise expenditure to stay in their home, rather than to keep their cover. But the cover is important.

If they do not know how important, they may make poor choices and find it hard to regain lost cover – we know that.

What we do not know is exactly how bad the situation is and when it might improve.

We think the long-run outlook is positive. While futurists muse that increasing life expectancy may mean consumers abandon life insurance, we think that argument is running precisely opposite to the facts.

Over the last 150 years life expectancy has gone from mid-40s to mid-80s in

the United Kingdom. At the same time life insurance has gone from being a rarity to being commonplace.

It seems more likely that the longer a productive life you may expect, the more an early death means your family loses. So, you buy life insurance.

But also, it has been years since life insurance was more than half of the new business premium. We really have a living insurance market.

That’s not accounting for health insurance, either. Include that in our sums and three-quarters of our premium is for benefits that you can receive while still living.

Although economists warn us that our ageing population means more clients find our product expensive, at the same time, more of us stay in work longer.

For years the proportion of people aged between 65 and 70 has been rising and it is close to 50:50 right now. In the next year or two it shall almost certainly be

‘While futurists muse that increasing life expectancy may mean consumers abandon life insurance, we think that argument is running precisely opposite to the facts.’

more normal to be in work than not in that age group.

Governments do not want to mention shifting the age of eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation up, but most people are going to be working. If they are in work they do things that people do when working – and that includes paying insurance premiums.

But in the short term, continued high lapse rates suggest we need to understand the impact of insurance within household budgets.

Here data lets us down.

The Statistics NZ Household Economic Survey is our go to, but the categorisation below the general heading “insurance” is poor. It’s also reliant on reporting by the client, and they are not good at remembering what their cover is for.

But even without a separate category, as consumers see “insurance” as largely one, perhaps we can still gain some insight from the data that Stats NZ collects.

Taken together, insurance has lifted as a share of household budgets from 4.4% to about 4.8% between 2007 and 2016, briefly touching 5% in 2013 – see table below.

The year 2019 is the last period available at this level of detail. Since then, we have had Cyclone Gabrielle, and continued rises in income protection premiums from some providers. I feel confident predicting that insurance could

Insurance as a % of total household expenditure

be above 5% of household budgets currently.

Natural hazards make insuring homes more expensive here, but at the same time, we must acknowledge that the general insurance market is highly concentrated. In the UK high general insurance prices for in-force business prompted the Financial Conduct Authority to research renewal notices and consider measures to promote premium comparison amongst consumers.

We recall an inquiry from Rob Stock, (a Stuff.co.nz journalist) who asked whether increases in general insurance could be squeezing consumers’ budgets for life insurance.

At the time I felt that there was

insufficient evidence to support this. I still cannot provide any, but we will keep looking for it.

Meanwhile, in the next few months we predict that competition for the premium dollar will be sharp. It may be little comfort, but a friend in the food distribution business says that restaurant dining has been hit harder than insurance over the past year.

More comfort comes from looking at the home loan rate reductions we have had recently and the predictions for the falls to continue. A Russell Hutchinson is a director at Quality Product Research Limited.

Returns are calculated to 28/02/25. Returns are calculated before tax, after fees, except for the non-PIE categories, which are after tax and after fees. For more information about this table and the methodology behind the data, contact helpdesk.nz@morningstar.com or go to www.morningstar.com.au

© 2016 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither Morningstar, nor its affiliates nor their content providers guarantee the data or content contained herein to be accurate, complete or timely nor will they have any liability for its use or distribution. To the extent that any of this information constitutes advice, it is general advice and has been prepared by Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd ABN: 95 090 665 544, AFSL: 240892 and/or Morningstar Research Limited (subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc.) without reference to your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider the advice in light of these matters and, if applicable, the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (in respect of Australian products) or Investment Statement (in respect of New Zealand products) before making any decision to invest. Neither Morningstar, nor Morningstar’s subsidiaries, nor Morningstar’s employees can provide you with personalised financial advice. To obtain advice tailored to your particular circumstances, please contact a professional financial adviser. Please refer to our Financial Services Guide (FSG) for more information www.morningstar.com.au/fsg.asp

TOP 10

As usual it has been a busy month on Good Returns Here is a list of the top 10 most read stories over recent weeks.

01 Struggling savers draining retirement funds to cover living costs

KiwiSaver members are repeatedly dipping into their funds to get them out of financial hardship in some cases to the extent they’re landing back at a zero balance.

02 New life insurance company coming

A new life insurance company is planning to launch later this year and has already made some senior hires?

03 Early days, but NZ Super's machine-learning fund outperforms

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund’s new machine-learning portfolio of New Zealand shares has exceeded expectations and managed to outperform its internally and actively managed NZ equities portfolio.

04 Milford gets new CEO

Head of listed insurer to take up CEO role at Milford Asset Management.

05 Financial adviser target-based incentives banned from 31 March 2025

From 31 March 2025 the law will prevent financial advice providers* (“FAPs”) from providing most types of direct target-based incentives (based on volume or value metrics) to financial advisers, the direct managers of employed advisers, and others. In this article I consider how this law applies to FAPs and their financial advisers.

Chubb's new chief executive has 30 years of experience in the retail banking and insurance industries.

07 Bayly resigns after “overbearing” behaviour towards staff member

Andrew Bayly has resigned as Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and ACC after an incident with a staff member which he describes as inappropriate.

08 Trustees Executors to sell registry business, focus on supervision

Trustees Executors is trimming its business back to what it has decided is its “core business” of acting as a corporate trustee and provider of licensed supervision services.

09 Lock-up vs liquid: why a KiwiSaver cornerstone could change

With confidence in KiwiSaver underpinned by members’ ability to switch funds types and providers at a drop of hat, just how that will marry with long-term investment in potentially illiquid private assets remains in question.

10 Consilium reaches a milestone

Consilium has cracked through the $9 billion in funds under management (FUM) mark, cementing its position as one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing investment platforms.

06 Chubb names new CEO

COMING SOON

Providing four successive generations of investors with cashflow through regular returns and a pathway to financial freedom through long-term capital growth.

Better still, we’ve done this by providing New Zealand businesses and their staff with quality, sustainable premises from which to make their mark on the world.