Generate’s KiwiSaver funds had a particularly good June quarter with its $1.94 billion growth fund and $710 million moderate funds both delivering the best returns for the three months, according to MJW’s latest survey.

It hasn’t been the best of years for Mint Asset Management with fee income dropping 13.4% overall.

Salt Funds Management’s Sale Long Short Fund performed well enough to earn the management team a performance fee, which is why the fees earned jumped to $2.9 million in the year ended March from $1.1 million the previous year.

Jarden Securities' annual net profit excluding the since-sold wealth management business jumped 26% while revealing that investment banking and unrealised capital gains contributed the bulk of the increase.

Proposed new powers for the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), including for without-notice warrantless on-site inspections, should be scrapped because there’s no evidence such powers are needed, according to law firm DLA Piper.

Australia-based Shaw and Partners will pay $67.5 million for 75% of Investment Services Group (ISG), which owns the Devon Funds, JMI Wealth, Select Wealth, Clarity Funds and TAHITO brands in the wealth management space, chair Paul Glass confirmed.

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade policy are posing a risk to US exceptionalism and “Trump is in the process of making the rest of the world great again,” according to Jacob Mitchell, chief investment officer and founder of Antipodes, a Sydney-based investment manager.

Investors wanting to access private credit investments should be looking at the quality and experience of the management team before deciding to invest, Roy Keenan, co-head of Australian fixed income at Yarra Capital Management said.

Kiwibank lent more on mortgages in the year ended March than Westpac did while ANZ Bank New Zealand continues to lose market share.

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime “is essential” for it and that the licensing process is complete for most providers with supervision and monitoring work now underway.

Providing investments in private credit to retail investors is still a fledgling opportunity in New Zealand, although Harbour Asset Management started putting toes in the private credit market about seven years ago.

The Reserve Bank is expecting house prices in New Zealand to rise about 4.5% this year but that’s a much more modest increase than has been the case historically, according to RBNZ assistant governor for money Karen Silk.

The Reserve Bank expects about 45% of mortgages will be refixed in the June and September quarters with advertised rates for one and two-year fixed mortgages having fallen below 5% for the first time since 2022.

The Reserve Bank is signalling just two further cuts in the official cash rate (OCR) in the current cycle, with the OCR bottoming at 2.9% in the December quarter and remaining at that level through to the March quarter of 2027.

The financial services industry is welcoming the increase in KiwiSaver contribution rates while expressing some concern about the halving of government contributions and the impact on employers at a tough time for the economy.

Investment advisers should work on removing small irritants to their clients that could have significant detrimental consequences to their businesses, Morningstar’s global head of behavioural insights, Ryan Murphy, told his company’s investment conference in Sydney.