News Round Up

Harts Portfolio Management has changed its name to Sterling Portfolio Management following its acquisition late last year by listed financial services group Dorchester Pacific.

This is the third name for the group in two years. It was Reeves Moses originally and when owned by Sovereign. After Sovereign sold it to now-defunct consolidation group Harts the name was changed to Harts Portfolio Management.

Officially Harts Portfolio Management becomes Sterling Portfolio Management. According to its website there are five offices, Auckland, Tauranga, Taupo, Katikati and Wellington. Dorchester also owns Harts Contributory Mortgages.

The new name is very close to Sterling Grace Portfolio Management, which is the name of the company that owned Spicers, Arcus and Assure. Those businesses were acquired by AXA late last year.

AXA also bid for Harts and was disappointed to miss out on the deal.

Hanover crosses ditch
Hanover Group, New Zealand's largest privately owned finance company, is widening its scope with the acquisition of Australasian finance group FAI Finance.

FAI, a trans-Tasman operation offering personal loans and consumer finance for retailers, is based in Sydney with 18 staff in New Zealand.

Hanover has renamed the company Australian Finance Direct for its Australian operations, but it will continue to be known as FAI Finance in New Zealand.

Hanover Group is the investment vehicle of entrepreneur Eric Watson's Cullen Investments and his business partner Mark Hotchin.

The group includes Elders Finance, Nationwide Finance, Cogent Communications and U-Bix.

Clearly a good bond
Not all property bonds are bad, according to Money Managers marketing director Al Scott.

He says a property bond marketed by Money Managers was used to get the Clearwater Resort in Christchurch underway.

The resort has featured prominently in the news over the past week as the first ever US PGA golf tournament is being played on the resort's course.

Scott says $3.5 million was raised from more than 300 investors in 1999 through a bond issue. The investors earned 23% interest over the two-year investment, and the capital was repaid in full and on time.

He says only a small proportion of bonds issued default.

Special online deal
AMP Banking is offering a premium deposit rate for people who use phone or internet banking with its new eASYSAVER Account.

While most trading bank on-call rates for no minimum accounts hover around 3-4% plus charge transaction fees, eASYSAVER currently offers 4.75% annually with no bank transaction fees and no minimum balance.

As eASYSAVER is primarily an online account, there are no paper statements or forms to fill out once the account has been opened.

AMP Banking head of retail banking Michael Guggenheimer says the account is "a savings account that works for customers who are savvy about managing their money." 

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