News Round Up

ING (formerly Armstrong Jones) has given up its stranglehold on being Morningstar's fund manager of the year.

The research house has awarded the top award for 2001, jointly to BT Funds Management and ING.

Third place goes to BNZ Investment Management which won FundSource's award late last year.

The only managers eligible for the Morningstar award are those which have New Zealand based funds and are covered by the research house. Index funds are not eligible.

The awards are based on a combination of past performance and qualitative research.

Besides the overall award, gongs are also handed out in six sectors. Those winners and finalists were:

NZ property
Winner: ING. Finalists: NZ Guardian Trust, Tower Managed Funds.

NZ/Australian equities
Joint winners: BT Funds Management and ING. Finalist: National Bank of New Zealand.

International fixed interest
WestpacTrust Investment Management. Finalists: BNZ Investment Management, Sovereign Services.

International equities
Winner: BNZ Investment Management. Finalists: ANZ Funds Management, Sovereign Services.

NZ fixed interest
Winner: National Bank. Finalists: BNZ Investment Management, NZ Guardian Trust.

Tax topic
Tax seems to be the topic of the moment with the Government. First there was the announcement about tax incentives for retirement savings, that was followed by comments from Finance Minister Michael Cullen that he favoured a Risk-Free Rate of Return Method (RFRM) for taxing international investments.

Last week he released a discussion paper, in tandem with his Australian counterpart Peter Costello, that looks at the vexed issue of tax treatment in trans-Tasman investments.

The problem is that Australian shareholders in a New Zealand company operating in Australia are unable to access Australian-sourced franking credits, with the same problem applying in reverse for New Zealand shareholders in Australian companies operating in New Zealand.

The mechanism under consideration is one that allocates both Australian franking credits and New Zealand imputation credits to shareholders in proportion to their ownership of a company. The proposed changes are set out in a discussion document, Trans-Tasman triangular tax.

UDC's latest rates
UDC has changed some of its deposit rates effective from March 11. The changes are:

• Secured Term Investment: 6.05% fixed for two years. Minimum $25,000

• UDC Telephone Call Account Rates: 4.60% for $100,000 and over. $20,000 to $100,000, 4.45%, $5,000 to $20,000 3.95%.
• UDC Secured Term Investment 5 year rate: 7.00%, minimum $25,000

All rates quoted are on an annual basis.

Challenging result
Challenger International has announced an after tax profit of A$109 million for the six months to 31 December 2001, an increase of 101% over the previous corresponding period.

Challenger New Zealand chief executive John Rowley says the results create an excellent platform for continued growth in the local business.

"Our funds management strength is being supported by strong sales of (endowment) warrants and the Trans-Tasman fund," he says.

"And our potential to grow in annuities and sharebroking offer challenging opportunities.

Commenting is closed