News Round Up: March 14

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KiwiSaver provisions better; IRESS announces launch of new adviser software; Massey University in final of Asia-Pacific Global Investment Research Challenge; Emerging markets the place to be: Goldman Henry; Fortress first-half profit down.  

Monday, March 14th 2011, 5:00AM 3 Comments

KiwiSaver provisions better
The KiwiSaver provisions in the Financial Markets (Regulators and KiwiSaver) Bill have emerged from the Select Committee "more workable, clearer and better integrated into the existing legislation", according to law firm Chapman Tripp.

The Bill introduces a fundamental change to the governance structure for retail KiwiSaver schemes, with the manager becoming the issuer of membership interests and the trustee becoming the statutory supervisor.

"More generally, both trustees and managers will now be subject to express duties to act in members' collective best interests when exercising powers and performing duties. Only managers, however, will remain subject to the general ‘prudent person' standard with respect to investment decisions - a recognition of the trustee's now more limited role," the company said.

IRESS announces launch of new adviser software
IRESS has announced an April launch date for its XPLAN 2.0 adviser software.

"XPLAN 2.0 offers a new-look web interface that has been designed to meet expectations of advisers who need their planning software to efficiently complete increasingly complicated tasks," said IRESS managing director Andrew Walsh.

IRESS project manager for wealth management, Aaron Knowles, said the XPLAN is a demonstration of the company adding value to the adviser business.

"We recognise that there is no single best practice for running advice businesses and we work hard to provide a solution that offers best outcomes for each dealer group or brand," he said. 

Massey University in final of Asia-Pacific Global Investment Research Challenge
Massey University advanced to the Asia-Pacific regional final of the 2011 Global Investment Research Challenge, hosted by the CFA Institute.

Dr Ashvin Vibhakar, CFA managing director of Asia-Pacific operations, said, "The mission of the CFA Institute of to prepare the future leaders in the investment profession. Through the Global IRC, the future generation of investment professionals comes to know the rigor and high ethical standards required of investment management."

Emerging markets the place to be: Goldman Henry
Auckland-based fund management company Goldman Henry has reported a gain of 26.68% in its emerging markets fund following growth of 33% in 2010.

Goldman Henry analyst Alan Goldman said that for investors with a global focus, emerging markets are the place to be.

Goldman said the fund's closest comparable benchmark is the iShare MSCi Emerging Markets Index, which gained 14.80% in 2010.

Capping a good 2010 for Goldman Henry, its flagship US 50 Fund also produced double-digit growth, up 10.20% during last year.

Fortress first-half profit down
Macquarie Fortress Investments has reported first-half net operating profit before financing costs fell to $2.2 million, down from $5.8 million a year earlier.

The company said that since the last annual financial report for the year ended June 30, 2010, traded prices of Senior Loans have continued to improve.

As announced on the New Zealand Stock Exchange on February 2, 2011, the net asset value (NAV) as at December 31, 2010 has significantly increased from the prior year.

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