Welcome to SuperNews - June 2009
SuperNews is the Association's bi-monthly electronic newsletter, keeping you abreast of what's happening in the Association and wider industry.
Feedback, comments and submissions for SuperNews are welcome - Contact us, we appreciate hearing from our members!
We encourage you to include this in your trustee board meeting papers. Each edition is also available on our website
Have you registered for the ASFONZ 2009 Forum?
Plain Englishing Workplace Savings & KiwiSaver
That's the title for this year's one day Forum.
So what does the term mean for us? It means striving for an environment where rules are clear and logical, where employers know what they can and cannot do, where investors and potential employee scheme members can understand the information provided to them and the financial implications of the decisions they make, and scheme trustees and providers have a clear picture of the challenges they face.
It's against the above background that the ASFONZ Council has pulled together the programme for the ASFONZ 2009 Forum
This is an event you do not want to miss!
The Forum is being held at Te Papa, Wellington on Thursday 6 August 2009 and the ‘must-attend’ Forum for industry participants.
Earlybird registrations close 6 July, so if you haven’t sent your registration away already, please do so ASAP to save on fees.
There are two easy ways to register:
To view the Forum Programme and speakers, click here.
Help us spread the word! We encourage industry participants to extend an invitation to their clients to join them at our Forum. Contact us if you would like a hard or soft-copy information brochure to forward to your clients. All support is much appreciated.
Upcoming Industry Breakfast
ASFONZ and Women in Super are pleased to present Mary Holm as our guest speaker for our July breakfasts in Wellington & Auckland.
Mary will be speaking on her findings in researching her new book "The complete Kiwi Saver: Everything you need to know". You are invited to come along and bring your ideas on why a couple of million eligible people still haven't signed up, and on what changes would make KiwiSaver better.
Copies of Mary's new book will also be available for purchase at a special price of $25.
If you haven’t registered already, there is still time:
Wellington (click here to register)
Tuesday 7 July 2009, 7.15 - 9.00 am
The Wellington Club, 88 The Terrace, Wellington
Auckland (click here to register)
Thursday 9 July 2009, 7.15 - 9.00 am
The Auckland Club, 34 Shortland Street, Auckland
Cost:
ASFONZ and Women in Super members - $35.00 (inc GST)
Non-members - $45.00 (inc GST)
KiwiSaver mortgage diversion closed
In May 2009, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne announced that the KiwiSaver mortgage diversion facility was closed to new applicants from 1 June.
Mortgage diversion is a feature of KiwiSaver that allows members to divert up to half their contributions to their mortgage repayments.
"Any benefits of mortgage diversion are outweighed by its disadvantages, while not all banks offer it and only about 600 people out of more than a million KiwiSaver members have taken it up," Mr Dunne says.
"Mortgage diversion imposes additional and unnecessary compliance costs on KiwiSaver providers and on banks that offer the facility, and these costs are generally passed on to members using the facility through increased fees.
"It also goes against a basic principle of KiwiSaver to lock in savers' funds until they are 65, thus helping them to accumulate assets for their retirement years. Someone using mortgage diversion could, for example, sell the house before he or she is 65, thus gaining access to funds.
"There is no practical way of stopping members gaining early access to their funds via mortgage diversion, without imposing further compliance costs on banks and providers and further complicating the law. It is simpler and more straightforward to stop offering the facility for new applicants," Mr Dunne says.
Mortgage diversion was closed to new applicants from 1 June, while remaining available for existing participants. However, as providing mortgage diversion has never been obligatory, providers and banks can stop providing the facility to existing participants if they so choose.
Legislation bringing about the change was enacted 29 May 2009.
ASFONZ Trustee Training
Are you looking to up-skill? Perhaps you may be a newly appointed trustee? ASFONZ is committed to providing a training course (in the form of modules) for those involved in the governance and administration of superannuation, complying fund or KiwiSaver schemes .
Take a look at our upcoming education modules, click on the headings for more info:
Best Practice Governance
What is it that makes the difference between an effective and efficient Board of Trustees and the rest? The answers lie in procedure and execution. This course will assist you in differentiating management from governance.
Date & Location: Wed 11 November, 1 – 5pm, Wellington
Introduction to Trusteeship
For new or existing trustees, this course will assist all trustees in understanding their legal obligations and broader responsibilities associated with the governance of a trust. Particular emphasis is given to trustee powers, duties and the exercise of discretions.
Date & Location: Wed 11 November, 8.30am - 12.30pm, Wellington
Trustee Investment Decisions
This education module focuses on the investment decisions that Trustees are faced with including selecting and mixing fund managers, selecting a consultant, evaluating investment surveys, understanding different types of investment vehicles and evaluating the option of managing your own assets.
Date & Location: Thurs 12 November, 8.30am – 12.30pm, Wellington
ASFONZ Training for Employers
In addition to the training we offer for trustees, ASFONZ has also developed a workshop especially for employers and/or their Hurman Resources specialists, and those employed in the day-to-day andministration of workplace savings.
Introduction to Workplace Savings
This module intends to provide a valuable map to help navigate your way through workplace savings legislation, taxation, remuneration strategies, choosing and changing a provider, ways to advise and promote savings in the workplace.
Dates & Locations:
Auckland - 24 August 2009, 1pm – 5pm
Wellington – 25 August 2009, 1pm – 5pm
Christchurch – 27 August 2009, 1pm – 5pm
Cost per module:
$295 for ASFONZ and WiS members, $395 for non-members (inc. GST)
Registration can be made online via our website or alternatively email: info@asfonz.org.nz
New Members
ASFONZ warmly welcomes Dr. Edward Schuck as its newest member.
The following is an advertorial
AXA Global Investors Enhances Wholesale Offering
AXA Global Investors has launched a new range of multi-manager products for wholesale investors.
These include multi-manager active Australasian equities, active global equities, active global equities with currency hedging, active global bonds and global infrastructure.
The new multi-manager products join AXA Global Investors’ existing suite of investment products, which include passive global equities, New Zealand bonds, global property and NZ cash.
AXA Global Investors – Manager of Managers
Based in New Zealand, AXA Global Investors manages more than $3.6 billion for New Zealand investors. It is able to draw on the expertise and experience of the global AXA group.
AXA Global Investors has been managing wholesale funds since 1999 and has carved a solid reputation in New Zealand’s investment circles for providing clients with the best of breed multi-manager products.
“AXA Global Investors is considered one of New Zealand’s leading ‘manager of managers’. Being part of the global AXA group, the company has the scale and expertise to offer clients competitive prices in the wholesale market and we have an impressive track record of outperforming client benchmarks,” says Peter Verhaart, General Manager of AXA Global Investors.
“AXA Global Investors operates a Dynamic Asset Allocation process with a 10-year track record of delivering over 1% per annum added value to a balanced fund. All our products are true wholesale investments – not invested into other provider funds. In general, these new products are wholesale New Zealand unit trusts structured as PIEs that are tax effective, cost effective and transparent,” says Mr Verhaart.
Transparency is a core element of AXA Global Investors’ process. It is not an asset consultant but works in conjunction with independent asset consultants to deliver clients’ investment objectives and fit in with their overall investment strategies and governance.
A Team of Experts
AXA Global Investors is run by a team of experienced investment professionals based in Wellington.
General Manager Peter Verhaart has more than 20 years’ experience in wholesale markets with Watson Wyatt, ANZ Funds Management and Mercer.
Chief Economist and Head of Client Relations Bevan Graham is well-known within the investment sector for his entertaining and insightful analyses of market trends. The former Parliamentary Opposition economic adviser has a wealth of experience in the investment sector working for Alliance Capital and Westpac prior to joining AXA Global Investors.
Head of Investment Strategy Keith Poore has more than 15 years’ experience in the financial service industry including senior investment strategy positions at BNZ Investment Management and Grosvenor.
Head of Operations Catherine Buckley brings to the team experience and skills in compliance and asset transitions with more than 17 years of wholesale experience with Global Retirement Trust and global custodian State Street.
Get in touch
To find out more about AXA Global Investors’ wholesale investor products or to meet more of the team, please visit www.axagi.co.nz or email: theteam@axagi.co.nz
|