Fund Product, Company and Regulatory Updates as at 18 February 2020
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Product Updates
T. Rowe Price closes local Asia fund
T. Rowe Price has closed its Asian equities ex Japan fund after outflows. Anh Lu manages the T. Rowe Price Asia ex-Japan fund from Hong Kong, investing in 80-120 Asian stocks. Despite a great year in 2019, delivering returns of 22.24 per cent (benchmarked at 14.60 per cent), the Australian vehicle is being shuttered due to investors pulling out funds over the past five years.
MyNorth launches managed portfolios
InvestSense and Lonsec now have two offers on the MyNorth Managed Portfolios platform. Lonsec Investment Solutions is offering three new diversified retirement managed portfolios, while InvestSense is offering four new diversified managed portfolios for long-term objectives.
BT winding up Pendal-managed fund after 52 years
A multi-asset fund managed by Pendal is being wound up after over 50 years after investor demand dropped. The BT Institutional Diversified Balanced PST invested in local and global shares, fixed interest, listed property and alternatives. The termination date is set for April 30.
Vanguard enters private equity market with strategic partnership
HarbourVest and Vanguard have partnered to provide Vanguard with private equity market access, to complement its index and actively-managed funds. The new offering allows individual investors access to investments they wouldn’t be able to access on their own.
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Company Updates
Zenith moving into superannuation
Chant West is soon to be owned by Zenith Investment Partners, with an agreement entered for the sale of Chant West’s superannuation and consulting business for $12 million. Chant West Holdings will keep Enzumo, a financial planning technology business. The combined Zenith and Chant West businesses will have about 70 staff in Sydney and Melbourne.
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Regulatory Updates
ASIC’s new powers in legislation
After recommendations in the 2016 ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s powers have been increased in legislation. The new powers extend current licensing and bannings, including increasing search warrant powers and access to certain telecommunications information.
