News round-up

ETITO helping to educate advisers; Kiwi advisers well placed in global scene; KBC water fund dries up; Search levels return to normal: Mercer

Monday, May 11th 2009, 5:48AM

by Maddy Milicich

ETITO helping to educate advisers
The ETITO is hosting a series of interactive information sessions about the national qualifications framework and how it works.

The sessions will cover the principles of industry training, the purpose and structure of unit standards and national qualifications and workplace assessment.

To find out more, go to the Diary page. Expressions of interest close at the end of today.

Kiwi advisers well placed in global scene
New Zealand regulators are reacting well to the global crisis compared with other countries, according to the IFA's Lyn McMorran.

McMorran, who has recently returned from the IFA's biannual financial planning standards board (FPSB) series of meetings in Tokyo, also says New Zealand is well-placed in terms of its best practice standards with financial advisers.

"During the meetings it became clear that regulators in some other countries have had a knee jerk reaction to the financial meltdown, implementing onerous standards that are not beneficial for anyone," she says.

"The IFA has worked hard for a long time to raise the standards for its members and the FPSB meetings confirmed we are on the right track."

KBC water fund dries up
KBC Asset Management in Australia has confirmed the termination of the open-ended, managed KBC Global Water Fund.

The fund had been closed to new investors since February.

While sharing the same investment theme, WATER Series 1 continues to fun and remains scheduled for maturity on 15 November 2012.

The WATER Series 1 fund is a closed-ended, capital protected fund managed completely separately by Liontamer Investments.

Search levels return to normal: Mercer
Mercer's global manager search trends for 2008 showed search activity was down on a global level, apart from North America and Asia, which saw a slight increase.

In New Zealand, search levels returned to normal after a particularly busy year in 2007, driven primarily by tax changes. Searches were dominated by global rather than domestic asset classes, with global fixed income making up the highest percentage of assets placed.

« Banks avoid training costs under new rules, says PAA

Sovereign takes regulation bull by the horns »

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