News Round Up

Gould Wealth Management approaching $400 million; NAB may buy ABN Amro units; ASB has new PIE fund; Fruition Asset Management Pacific Fund returns 5.8%; Liontamer funds close; Fidelity reports excellent results; Biggest drop in household wealth in 10 years

Monday, July 14th 2008, 5:53AM

Gould Wealth Management approaching $400 million
Acceptances among investors for Gould Wealth Management's offer for Vestar were expected to reach $400 million in funds under management by the end of Friday 11 July.

The final date for the agreement to be finalised is Wednesday 16 July 2008 and Gould Wealth Management is confident its offer will go unconditional.

Gould Holdings chief George Gould said he was pleased with the responses from clients, some of whom had been particularly hostile to Vestar.

"We want to take a troubled industry, a troubled business and troubled investors in a fresh direction and we're receiving an encouraging response," Gould said.

NAB may buy ABN Amro units

National Australia Bank (NAB) said it is in talks to buy the Australian and New Zealand investment banking units of ABN Amro from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The transaction would be subject to due diligence and there's no certainty a deal will be done.

Bank of Scotland acquired ABN Amro assets last year for about 14 billion euros.

NAB has also said it would issue about 34.85 million shares at $27.26 apiece through a dividend reinvestment plan.

ASB has new PIE fund
The ASB Cash Fund, which takes advantage of the PIE tax rules, gives investors an on-call earnings rate of 8.25% annually.

"New government legislation encouraging New Zealanders to save is changing the way people in the higher tax brackets invest, says Peter Hall, head of ASB business ventures.

Investments will available from 7 July 2008.

Funds in the ASB Cash Fund are accessible at any time and customers are able to monitor their balance and transact in a similar way to an online account.

Fruition Asset Management Pacific Fund returns 5.8%
The Pacific Fund, launched in January 2008 has produced a net return of 5,8% for the first six months.

The fund is an investment vehicle established to meet market demand for yield investments.

The aim of the fund is to generate monthly returns of between 1% and 1.5%, irrespective of market direction, with quarterly income pay-outs to investors. The target return is OCR + 3%.

Liontamer funds close
Liontamer's FALLEN ANGELS Series 1 and COMBI Series 5 closed on Friday 11 July, although applications will still be accepted until Friday 18 July for the FALLEN ANGELS fund. No new applications will be accepted for the COMBI fund.

Both funds will determine the Index Strike levels on 23 July and invest on 25 July.

Fidelity reports excellent results
Fidelity Capital Guaranteed Bond's investment fund increased from $76 million at 31 December 2007 to $86 million, it has told the NZ Stock Exchange, and all interest due will be paid by the registrar as scheduled on 15 July 2008.

The investment fund writes options on US Government Stock and has enjoyed favourable conditions over recent months.

Fidelity Capital Guaranteed Bond Limited is a fully owned subsidiary of Fidelity Life Assurance Company.

Biggest drop in household wealth in 10 years
Households' net worth fell 1.2% or $5,900 in the March quarter, making the largest quarterly drop in household wealth for nearly 10 years, according to the latest Household Savings Indicators from Spicers.

In annual terms, net worth rose only 2% for the 12 months ending March 2008. This is down from the 6.9% growth recorded in Spicers December 2007 report.

Bevan Graham, Spicers' economic adviser, says the fall in net worth was the combined result of a fall in the value of household financial and physical assets, coupled with a continued increase in household debt levels.

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