On the local front, the firm’s AUM in Pacific has grown to $46 billion as of 31 March on the back of mandates from the likes of Ford, DairyNZ, TPT Wealth, Health Insurance Fund of Australia.
Mercer said “institutional investors are looking to access outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) investment solutions as they continue to grapple with market volatility”, while head of investment solutions for Pacific, Craig Hughes, said his team is seeing a heightened interest across a range of investors for investment solutions.
“Today, earnings on cash and term deposit investments are effectively zero. Many investors don’t have the internal resources to manage investments other than cash and are looking to implemented consulting solutions for better returns,” Mr Hughes said.
“In this increased regulatory climate, clients are focusing more on core activities and allocating greater resources to compliance type requirements.
“They’re seeking support from external investment solutions providers to manage their investment portfolios at a critical time when expanding their revenue streams is more important than ever.
“There’s an increased awareness around fees and ‘value for money’, particularly among super funds. Investors can lower fees by outsourcing their investment needs to implemented consulting providers who have enormous scale compared to individual funds.
“A key driver of investors looking externally for their investment needs is to achieve greater diversification in their portfolios in a post-pandemic era.
“Sophisticated implemented consulting providers are able to offer investors access to a complete range of asset classes – including alternatives and private market assets – and demand for these types of exposures has increased.”
