Milford sees more opportunities in NZ market

Milford Asset Management has launched three new funds to retail investors – including an Australian version of its flagship fund, which has hit the limits of the New Zealand share market.

Monday, April 9th 2018, 6:00AM 1 Comment

by Susan Edmunds

Milford Asset Management has launched three new funds – including an Australian version of its flagship fund, which has hit the limits of the New Zealand share market.

It is now accepting investors’ money into its new Australian Absolute Growth Fund, as well as a Trans-Tasman Bond Fund and Global Bond Fund.

The Australian Absolute Growth Fund is modelled on the company’s Active Growth Fund, which has been closed to retail investors since 2013. It is the first fund to come out of Milford’s Sydney office, which opened four years ago.  Until now that team has been operating as a research office rather than manufacturing any product.

The fund is primarily invested in Australian equities with an objective of 5 per cent above the official cash rate, with capital protection.

Head of wealth management Murray Harris said it was a solution for New Zealand investors who wanted exposure to the Active Growth Fund’s management style.

Milford does not see space in the New Zealand market to continue to accept retail deposits at present. “We want to preserve the ability to generate good returns for existing clients in that fund.”

It still accepts money from KiwiSaver investors.

The Trans-Tasman Bond Fund has been operating for the past three years as a wholesale option. Harris said a lot of money was still in term deposits in banks and there was an opportunity there for investors to seek a better return without taking too much risk.

Most bond funds were focused on New Zealand and benchmarked top New Zealand, he said, but focusing on Australia too gave it a wider range of issuers to choose from. “Australia’s bond market is not so dominated by the banks but more diversified in terms of issuers.”

Harris said Paul Morris, who will manage the Trans-Tasman fund and the Global Bond Fund, was well-connected to the global community and was contacted by issuers overseas about potential opportunities. Research for the global fund will be done from Auckland.

Retail investors can invest a minimum $10,000 in the funds.

Tags: funds management Milford Asset Management

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Comments from our readers

On 9 April 2018 at 8:11 am Brent Sheather said:
What’s the bet that the new bond funds will invest heavily in exchange traded funds just like Milford’s Global Equity Fund does? It is a little ironic that Mr Gaynor criticises index funds and then invests in them. It is a great business decision however – the client pays for the management and performance fees relative to a fixed interest benchmark are pretty well guaranteed.

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