News round-up

Securities Commission denies funding Consumer survey; Be in to win; ANZ takes full control of ING; S&P promotes debate on role of research houses; Suncorp-Metway ratings affirmed, outlook stable; Forsyth Barr KiwiSaver wins People's Choice; Fund Manager of the Year awards.

Monday, December 7th 2009, 5:30AM

The Securities Commission did not fund the Consumer survey on financial advisers which found the level of advice to be "scandalously poor."

Consumer said the survey was funded by the Securities Commission and the Retirement Commissioner.

In a reply to an Official Information Act request the Securities Commission said a member of staff did sit in on some preliminary scoping meetings relating to the Consumer magazine mystery shopping exercise, however the Commission did not fund the exercise.

"The mention in the report of this was incorrect."

The Retirement Commission provided $30,000 towards the survey.

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ANZ takes full control of ING
ANZ, the Australian parent of ANZ National Bank, has taken full control of ING NZ after it announced it would mop up the 51% of the fund manager it did not own in Australia and New Zealand last month.

ANZ National Bank will take full ownership of ING NZ's listed property trust management companies and its funds management businesses, though no changes are expected to be made to management.

S&P promotes debate on role of research houses
Standard & Poor's (S&P) has released a paper to promote debate around how different business models employed by research houses impact on its service to customers.

The paper was released in response to recent debate around the role of research houses and the value and relative independence for the services they provide, but S&P felt there had not been much debate around different business models of research houses and how they impact on service delivery and management of potential conflicts and interest.

It examines the advantages and disadvantages of the most common business models and how they perform against a set of criteria, including: transparency, prevention of conflicts, quality, coverage, scrutiny and the ability to deliver implemented solutions to clients.

Suncorp-Metway ratings affirmed, outlook stable
Standard & Poor's (S&P) has reaffirmed its A rating on Suncorp-Metway (Suncorp Bank) and its A+ rating on the group's Australian and New Zealand insurance subsidiaries, .

The outlook for the group remains stable.

The affirmation of Suncorp Bank and its subsidies' ratings reflects the ongoing business strength of the material insurance operations as well as improvements in the bank's capitalisation, funding and liquidity, S&P said.

Forsyth Barr KiwiSaver wins People's Choice
The Forsyth Barr KiwiSaver Scheme has won the People's Choice KiwiSaver Communications Award, in the 2009 Workplace Savings NZ Communication Awards, with over 9,000 KiwiSaver individuals voting.

The other big winner was the Dairy Industry Superannuation Scheme, taking out the Investment Statement of the Year and Supreme Award for Excellence in Communication awards.

The awards aim to promote innovation and excellence in all forms of workplace savings communication and assist in setting best practice communication standards for the industry.

The winners:

Investment Statement of the Year: Tower Investment for their KiwiPlan investment Statement.
Annual Reporting of the Year: Dairy Industry Superannuation Scheme.
Best Other Workplace Savings of KiwiSaver Communication: Tower Investments for its Cash 4 Schools media campaign.
Best New Entrant: New Zealand Post Superannuation Plan for their Plan's 2009 Annual Report.
People's Choice KiwiSaver Communications Award: Forsyth Barr KiwiSaver Scheme.
Supreme Award for Excellence in Communication: Dairy Industry Superannuation Scheme.

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