[Weekly Wrap] Who’ll buy Perpetual?

This week saw speculation build over who will buy the rest of Perpetual, after the company sold off its corporate trustee business.

Friday, October 5th 2012, 9:55AM

by Niko Kloeten

Pyne Gould Corporation has signalled its intention to offload Perpetual, which has been embroiled in controversy in recent weeks over related-party transactions being investigated by the Financial Markets Authority. This week it announced it had sold the corporate trustee business to a group of its management team.This part of the business made up about 20% of Perpetual’s revenue.

The question now is who will buy the rest of Perpetual, with SBS Bank emerging as a contender for its advisory business. This would allow SBS to expand its presence in the financial advice market overnight. It has a modest number of AFAs but it has a solid platform to work with through its fund management subsidiary FANZ (Funds Administration New Zealand).

Another big move in the financial industry this week was not a sale but a resignation, with Edward Richards departing the Professional Advisers Association after three years. During his time as chief executive of the PAA he guided it through some significant events including the introduction of financial adviser regulations and the merger with the New Zealand Mortgage Brokers Association (NZMBA). Despite coming to the role from outside the industry he developed a good grasp of the issues and was a clear communicator of the PAA’s view.

Meanwhile, fund manager Chris Swasbrook appears to have ended his involvement with Foundry Asset Management, although Foundry boss Stephen Rogers has indicated there could be a possibility of reconciliation. Swasbrook is considered by many in the industry to be intelligent and talented but his personality has been described as “blunt”.

And it seems risk profiling is a hot topic among advisers, who are understandably nervous about getting the process right at least as viewed by the FMA and the courts. The problem with risk profiling is that it’s an inherently subjective process in many respects. The key is to get clients to understand the risks so they can make informed choices and to make sure you record every aspect of the process in detail.

We also featured two interesting economic commentaries this week. Tyndall is feeling a sense of déjà vu due to the disconnect developing between financial markets (which are enjoying strong performance) and the real economy, which is weak in many places. Harbour says the US Fed is spiking the punchbowl but, unlike a few years ago, no-one’s drinking this time.

And in other news on the site this week, Sothern Cross has launched an online policy picker, while in the mortgage market Westpac has taken an axe to its fixed home loan rates.

Niko Kloeten can be contacted at niko@goodreturns.co.nz

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Fund managers call for level playing field »

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