BetaShares jumps the ditch with expansion into New Zealand

One of Australia's leading exchange-traded fund managers is moving to New Zealand and is setting up shop in Auckland.

Friday, May 7th 2021, 6:25AM

by Matthew Martin

Thom Bentley will run the new BetaShares office in Auckland.

BetaShares has also announced the appointment of Thom Bentley to run its Auckland office as its director of adviser and institutional business.

BetaShares chief executive Alex Vynokur says the company has seen its funds under management grow from around A$10 billion at the start of 2020 to more than A$17 billion at the end of April 2021 and is projecting its strong growth to continue.

“Since the launch of our first product over a decade ago, we have established ourselves as a leader in the Australian ETF industry," says Vynokur says.

"Over the years, we have developed a number of long-standing relationships with institutions and advisers in New Zealand which we have serviced out of our Australian offices.

"We are now excited to deepen our presence in the New Zealand market via a local office which will help us to better service the needs of New Zealand investors with our extensive range of intelligent investment solutions.”

With the appointment of Thom Bentley, Vynokur says BetaShares will gain more than 30 years of Bentley's financial services experience.

Most recently, Bentley has worked at Smartshares, New Zealand’s only ETF manager, where he was responsible for institutional business.

In addition to SmartShares, Bentley has a depth of experience gained at firms such as Remarkable Capital, Nomura Asset Management, Macquarie and Scottish Widows.

“We are very pleased to have Thom join us as the first local team member in New Zealand. Thom has demonstrated over many years his ability to add value to a range of institutional and advisor investors,” says Vynokur.

Bentley says he's excited to be the first local hire for BetaShares in New Zealand.

"BetaShares have built a reputation as a leading, innovative ETF manager in Australia, and have been involved in New Zealand since their inception.

"I am thrilled to be part of this next phase of the business’s development as we aim to further extend the Firm’s presence in this market,” he says.

Tags: BetaShares ETFs Thom Bentley