SYDNEY, 25 February 2021 -- Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced the winners of the 2021 Morningstar New Zealand Awards. The annual Awards, held as a digital event on Thursday, 25 February, recognize the best of the New Zealand fund management profession that have made substantial contributions to investors’ success as selected by Morningstar’s manager research analysts.

“The winners of the Morningstar New Zealand Awards stood out for their commitment to long-term investing and ability to outperform their peers,” said Aman Ramrakha, Morningstar Australasia’s Director, Manager Research Ratings. “We were pleased to see strong contenders across all award categories, but Milford Asset Management wins our Overall New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year award for continued consistency across a number of categories.”

Award winners are determined by a combination of qualitative research by Morningstar's manager research analysts; risk-adjusted medium- to long-term performance track records; and performance in the 2020 calendar year. The table below shows the category winners, including winners for the Overall Fund Manager of the Year and KiwiSaver awards.

Overall New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year
Milford Asset Management is named the Overall New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year. Prevailing against strong contenders, Milford Asset Management boasts an impressive lineup of capabilities exhibiting notable short- and long-term performance across several categories. These features continue to underpin the steady growth of the firm.

Fund Manager of Year: Domestic Equities
Castle Point wins this category for its rigorous approach to in-depth research seeking to exploit market inefficiencies. Stephen Bennie and Richard Stubbs lead a small team that has consistently delivered for investors.

Fund Manager of Year: Fixed Interest
Despite competition from domestic and offshore peers, Russell Investments comes out on top in this category. Impressive returns across multiple time periods are the outcomes of strong research and portfolio positioning.

Fund Manager of Year: Global Equities
A renowned manager and best-in-class research platform makes T. Rowe Price this year’s global equity winner and one of our top picks in this category. Lead manager Scott Berg displays notable command of the portfolio and the macroeconomic issues which affect it, ably supported by T. Rowe’s sizable global team.

Fund Manager of Year: KiwiSaver
Simplicity wins the KiwiSaver award amongst a competitive list of nominees. KiwiSaver assets are at an all-time high and Simplicity’s responsible and low-cost approach to investing has served members well across its KiwiSaver range.

Methodology
Only fund managers with products available for sale in New Zealand qualify for inclusion in the Morningstar New Zealand Awards. Morningstar determines the winner based on a combination of qualitative research by its manager research analysts; risk-adjusted returns over medium- to long-term periods; and performance in the 2020 calendar year. Morningstar's manager research analysts assess the track record for a fund based on Morningstar's Risk-Adjusted Return measure over the one-, three-, five-, and ten-year periods. The objective is to screen for fund managers that have provided consistently strong returns, and not just reward those with the most impressive one-year return. Morningstar's manager research analysts then conduct a qualitative assessment of the fund managers under consideration. This incorporates the key pillars of the Morningstar Analyst Rating™ – People, Process, and Parent. The qualitative assessment also captures practical issues that quantitative screens cannot. After assessing the quantitative and qualitative outcomes for each fund manager, Morningstar's analysts then debate and decide on the fund managers they believe are worthy winners and finalists across the various Award categories. If a verdict cannot be reached by a unanimous decision, then each analyst casts a vote to decide.

To receive the overall New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year award, a fund manager must have offered funds in multiple award categories or delivered an outstanding outcome for investors. Fund managers were assessed not only on whether they were a finalist in more than one category, but on products that had peer-beating returns but did not obtain a top three position. Morningstar’s Manager Research analysts present the New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year award to the fund manager that had strong returns across multiple categories and was deemed a good steward of investors' capital. The New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year therefore represents the New Zealand fund manager that, in Morningstar's opinion, has achieved the highest level of funds management excellence.

The KiwiSaver Award recognises the provider that offers the best solution for New Zealanders' retirement savings needs. The winner is determined by a combination of quantitative and qualitative research by Morningstar's Manager Research analysts, including transparency and disclosure, investor experience, performance, and fees. For more information about Morningstar Awards, visit https://go.morningstar.com/Morningstar-Awards

About Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited and Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar Australasia is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (“the company”), a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately USD $215 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2020. The company has operations in 29 countries. For more information, visit https://www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on Twitter @MorningstarInc. 

The Awards are copyrighted to Morningstar. Fund managers may not publicise the Award(s) without the prior written consent of Morningstar.

Analyst Ratings and Award nominees and winners are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst Ratings are based on Morningstar’s current expectations about future events and therefore involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar’s expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its Analyst Ratings to be guarantees nor should they be viewed as an assessment of a fund’s or the fund’s underlying securities’ creditworthiness. The references above should not be considered a solicitation by Morningstar to buy securities.

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Media Contact:
Mary-Kate Marchesi, +61 419-535-555 or marykate.marchesi@morningstar.com