News Round Up

This week's News Round Up is all about fund restructures and changes at BT, Rural Property Trust and MFS.

Monday, October 6th 2003, 12:48AM

BT Funds Management is restructuring its Australian funds, which sees some closed to new investments.

It primary product range will be BT Investment Funds, and the closed funds will be under the BT Classic Investment Funds name.

Six funds will be closed to new investors, but existing unitholders may keep adding to these funds. Four other funds, including the Pacific Basin, European Growth, American Growth and Japanese Growth Funds are having their names changed.

BT is also increasing its fees, changing some of the asset alloactions and some benchmark indices.

W&K splits off NZRPT
Williams and Kettle is to carry out a restructuring involving its 32% stake and contract to manage the New Zealand Rural Property Trust with the intention of increasing focus on the core rural services business.

Chairman John Bayly says W&K intends to distribute shares in Rural Equities Ltd, which will have as its principle assets the 32% NZRPT stake and the management contract, to individual W&K shareholders, on a pro-rata basis.

"We have decided to separate our income producing assets in the rural services business from the lower yielding NZRPT capital growth assets. This will result in W&K becoming a pure rural services company and Rural Equities Ltd will be clearly identified as a separate land based capital growth company. Both companies will then be able to focus on their respective core businesses, rural services for W&K and rural property for Rural Equities Limited."

MFS mortgage fund becoming unavailable
A pooled first mortgage investment based on the booming Australian property market is to be closed to New Zealand investors on October 31.

Australian mortgage specialists McLaughlins Financial Services says it will not renew the New Zealand investment statement for its Capital Insured Income Fund when it expires.

MFS Group national distribution manager Hugo Driemeyer says the move is consistent with MFS¹s focus on further developing its already significant New Zealand based investments with Australian exposure, rather than Australian based products being distributed in New Zealand.

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Sovereign takes regulation bull by the horns »

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