News Round Up: October 3

Trustees and statutory supervisors now overseen by FMA; Australian accolade for Kiwi manager.

Monday, October 3rd 2011, 7:16AM

Trustees and statutory supervisors are now regulated under news rules overseen by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).

The regulator's head of compliance monitoring, Elaine Campbell, said over the coming year the FMA would be reviewing applications for licenses, presenting an important opportunity to assess entrants to the new regime.

"We will be looking for evidence of competence and capability, independence and accountability. In particular, we will be looking for a proactive approach to supervision, not just ‘ticking the boxes' mentality."

The FMA is in contact with the 26 entities it estimates will apply for licenses and under the Securities Trustee and Statutory Supervisors Act 2011, the regulator has the ability to grant, vary or cancel licenses, or to remove a supervisor from a specific appointment.

Licensees will also be subject to pecuniary penalties of up to $200,000 plus compensation.

Australian accolade for New Zealand fund manager

New Zealand Assets Management (NZAM) has been recognised in the top three ‘fund of funds' managers at the 2011 Australian Hedge Fund Awards for the second consecutive year.

"Ranking in the top three for the second year in a row, among a mix of global investment managers with an Australian presence, is an outstanding accolade and reflects the rigour of our absolute returns investment philosophy and global network," said NZAM executive director Alan McChesney.

"Winning last year's award helped to attract new interest and open doors in Australia. We are now actively growing our wholesale offering on both sides of the Tasman and can see a significant growth opportunity here over the next three to five years."

More than 130 fund managers across eight categories were selected to participate and are judged based on each fund's past three-year quantitative and qualitative performance by a panel of investment industry experts.

The 2011 overall fund of fund winner was Winslow Funds, followed by NZAM and BT Funds Management.

NZAM was established in 1991 with an investment philosophy underpinned by an ‘absolute return' strategy designed to give private and institutional investors absolute or positive returns each year.

McChesney said that despite the ongoing global market volatility, "we continue to preserve our clients' wealth and perform well relative to markets."

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