News Round Up

Monday, February 21st 2005, 2:01AM

The proposed break-up and sale of the commercial and retail property of the Princes Wharf Property Fund Limited & Company - Special Partnership was approved by investors at the meeting held in Wellington last week.

Fund hopes to fatten investors' wallets
Australian-based investment tipsheet Fat Prophets is seeking to raise A$40 million for a listed investment trust, although it has no track record managing money.

Fat Prophets New Zealand-born co-founder Angus Geddes says the fund is being created in direct response to strong demand by more than 7,000 Fat Prophets' subscribers.

"Many of our subscribers include New Zealanders, so this provides ready access to a listed Australasian vehicle that expertly invests in diversified value-based, liquid stocks."

He says the fund is a separate entity to the publishing business and it has an independent board of directors, risk and investment committee.

TEA wins ACC business
Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has outsourced the administration of its domestic investment portfolios to Trustees Executors. Trustees Executors by ACC as it “felt very confident that they could meet our specific investment accounting requirements.”

“We are delivering on our goals to become the most logical choice for outsourced back office functions in New Zealand,” Trustees Executors head of business services Claude Oberto says. “Trustees Executors are the leading provider of trustee and administration services in New Zealand and we are fully committed to extending our services in the future”.

Long face at Elders (but it's not sad)
Former television broadcaster Richard Long is the new face of Elders Finance and will front the company in the new Elders Finance nationwide print and television advertising campaign.

Hanover Group’s general manager of marketing and operations, Perry Cornish, says Long was the perfect choice for the brand. “Richard has always been seen by the public as a credible source of information. As a trusted broadcaster he resonates with our investors and the wider New Zealand market.”

Credit rating agencies happy with AMP
Credit ratings agencies are looking kindly on AMP following the announcement last week that it had produced an operating profit of A$934 million for 2004. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has affirmed AMP’s insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings at AA-.

Meanwhile Moody’s Investors Service revised AMP Group's ratings from stable to positiv. Moody's has also affirmed all existing ratings, including AMP Group Holdings A3 senior debt rating and AMP Life's Aa3 insurance financial strength rating.

Moody's says the change in outlook reflects the expected continued ongoing improvements in AMP, following its return to its key strengths in the Australasian life and superannuation businesses.

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