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The almost-gone 2023 was a busy period for the local financial services sector but the top-rating Investment News NZ (INNZ) action played out at the back-end of the year.
In fact, all of the 10 most-read INNZ stories for the entire just-about 12-month period were published no earlier than August with four of the hit numbers landing in December alone – who says it’s the silly season for news?
Unsurprisingly perhaps, the overall eyeball award goes to Jarden, which featured in three of the 10 headliners for 2023 as its not-so-secret restructure plans emerged into the open, in descending order of popularity as below:
Wealth merger vote slated for Jarden, reports
JBWere-Jarden-BNZ wealth combo a-go-go
FNZ to take on more direct role in Hatch, Jarden regroups with wealth split looming
Jarden, of course, has deep historical links with the-now global investment administration enterprise, FNZ, that was born 20 years ago today in the belly of the Wellington office of the brokerage house then known as First NZ Capital.
The admin adventure has taken FNZ to become possibly the biggest corporate export in NZ history but back home the exit of local head, Angela Vale, in December – the fourth CEO this year for the business – turned more heads.
Local FNZ chief exits after short stay
And two other CEO departures from the back-office world also made the top 10 this year, led by the health-related resignation of the head of the fund administration arm of the entity now-branded as Apex NZ with the end of Ryan Bessemer’s five-year reign atop Trustees Executors running a close second.
Apex NZ admin chief to exit
Bessemer to leave TE
Meanwhile, a couple of miscellaneous stories with an institutional flavour also found favour with INNZ readers this year including an off-trend, one-off Accident Compensation Corporation report and confirmation that the world’s biggest fund manager is to open an office in little old NZ.
ACC posts positive sub-benchmark score, flags first external review…
NZ growth prompts BlackRock office expansion plans
But in a back-to-front end to this top 10 countdown, the year almost belonged to Hobson Wealth in another M&A special, landing at number two in the charts with its agreement to sell to Forsyth Barr.
Hobson sold to Forsyth Barr
Trumping all, however, came the breaking news highlight of 2023 revealing a looming change as the biggest (non-government) fund manager in the land inked an agreement with the biggest fund manager in the world (and Mercer, too).
Huxford schedules exit as ANZ lines up Mercer, BlackRock for investment services
INNZ wraps up 2023 with this issue, leaving plenty of loose strings hanging for next year. In the interim, Seasons Greetings and many thanks to all the readers, advertisers and news-makers who made the 400 or so stories published this year worth writing – and a special call-out to Vicky and Amy who kept the back-office in order.
We will be back near the front-end of 2024…
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