AMP hands equities to Salt

AMP Capital today announced the appointment of Salt Funds Management as investment manager for active New Zealand equities.

Thursday, March 19th 2015, 12:05PM

It was announced earlier this year that AMP was to oursource the management of New Zealand equities to a third party.

Head of equities Guy Elliffe and senior analyst Jonathan Davis left AMP in January.

Salt Funds Management is a boutique investment management firm that specialises in managing New Zealand and Australian listed equity and property mandates. The firm is wholly owned by its investment personnel.

A number of expressions of interest were received from active equity managers from which a shortlist of managers was formed. After onsite visits, a preferred manager was selected and, following extensive due diligence, the AMP Investment Management NZ Board formally appointed Salt Funds Management.

AMP Capital Head of Distribution George Carter said: “We were impressed by the calibre and number of investment managers that expressed an interest in managing the portfolios. This shows significant depth and expertise in the New Zealand equity market, which is great for investor choice.”

Carter said Salt was selected because of its ability to align with AMP Capital’s existing New Zealand equities investment philosophy and process, which was important to ensure a smooth transition for clients.

“Being a core manager, Salt is an extremely good fit for AMP Capital and our clients. Salt has a proven investment team with extensive experience in managing the types of portfolios we offered for tender as well as having a truly integrated approach to responsible investing. We look forward to working with Salt to deliver on our portfolios’ investment objectives and continuing to provide our clients with an excellent New Zealand equity investment capability,” Carter said.

From April 1, Salt Funds Management will be the investment manager for the following portfolios: the AMP Capital NZ Shares Fund, AMP Capital Strategic NZ Shares Fund, AMP Capital Responsible Investment Leaders NZ Shares Fund and the New Zealand equity component of the AMP Capital Income Generator Fund. As at February 28, funds under management in these portfolios totalled approximately $690 million.

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