AUCKLAND, 24 February 2016 – Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced the winners
of the New Zealand Morningstar Awards 2016. Harbour Asset Management received the top award as Morningstar's New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year.
"The winners of the New Zealand Morningstar Awards have all shown themselves to be first-class stewards of investor capital. The quality of their people, process, parent, price, and performance is a testament to their commitment to investors," Tim Murphy, Morningstar Australasia’s Director of Manager Research, said.
The winners of the New Zealand Morningstar Awards are:
Fund Manager of the Year Award / Winner / Finalists
New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year: Harbour Asset Management
Finalists: ANZ Investments, Nikko Asset Management
Fixed Interest Category, New Zealand: Harbour Asset Management
Finalists: AMP Capital, Nikko Asset Management
Domestic Equities Category, New Zealand: Mint Asset Management
Finalists: Harbour Asset Management, Milford Asset Management
International Equities Category, New Zealand: ANZ Investments
Finalist: AMP Capital
KiwiSaver Category, New Zealand: Milford Asset Management
Finalists: ANZ Investments, ASB Investments
New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year 2016 – Harbour Asset Management
Harbour is an outstanding steward of its investors’ capital and the well-deserved winner of Morningstar’s overall award for New Zealand funds management excellence. Originally established as a domestic equities house, the firm has expanded its offering, which now encompasses fixed interest and global capabilities, in
a sensible and well-structured manner. Performance across all asset classes was top-notch in 2015, with investors benefitting from shrewd security selection and well-judged portfolio positioning in difficult market conditions.
Fund Manager of the Year: Fixed Interest Category, New Zealand 2016 – Harbour Asset Management
Harbour’s Christian Hawkesby and Mark Brown have done an exceptional job at developing the firm’s fixed interest capability since joining forces in 2011. Their sound investment process, backed by detailed economic research and modelling, has resulted in a noteworthy track record to date. Investors looking to diversify their portfolio by including fixed interest exposure need look no further than Harbour.
Fund Manager of the Year: Domestic Equities Category, New Zealand 2016 – Mint Asset Management
Anthony Halls and Mint’s investment team continue to demonstrate their flair and expertise at investing in New Zealand and Australian companies, their judicious stock selection in 2015 furthering their track record of picking winning stocks. Mint is the standout candidate for investors seeking proven excellence in sharemarket investing.
Fund Manager of the Year: International Equities Category, New Zealand 2016 – ANZ Investments
ANZ has received the Morningstar award for international equities for a number of years, and its multi-manager international equities capability remains unparalleled in the New Zealand market. Alan Clarke continues to do an exceptional job of constructing a portfolio that performs well in constantly changing market conditions. The combination of Franklin, LSV, MFS, and Vontobel remains a winning one for Kiwi investors looking to broaden their portfolios to incorporate the wealth of global investing opportunities.
Fund Manager of the Year: KiwiSaver Category, New Zealand 2016 – Milford Asset Management
Milford is at the forefront of the competitive KiwiSaver sector, thanks to its well-tenured and seasoned investments team, exceptional client service, industry-leading risk-adjusted results, and commendable focus on investor education and engagement. These characteristics all make Milford the pre-eminent choice among KiwiSaver providers.
The Awards are copyright Morningstar. Fund managers may not publicise the Award(s) without the prior written consent of Morningstar.
Methodology
Only fund managers with managed funds available for sale in New Zealand qualify for inclusion in the New Zealand Morningstar Awards.
Morningstar determines the winner based on a combination of qualitative research by Morningstar's manager research analysts; risk-adjusted returns over medium- to long-term periods; and performance in the 2015 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-, and five-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 but have otherwise struggled to impress.
Morningstar's manager research analysts then conduct a qualitative assessment of the fund managers under consideration. This incorporates the five pillars of the Morningstar Analyst Rating™ – people, process, parent, price, and performance. 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 categories. If a verdict cannot be reached by a unanimous decision, then each analyst casts a vote to decide.
Determining the Morningstar New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year 2016
To receive the overall Morningstar New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year award, a fund manager must have offered funds in multiple award categories or have 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 Morningstar New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year 2016 award to the fund manager that had strong returns across multiple categories and was deemed a good steward of investors' capital. The Morningstar New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year 2016 therefore represents the New Zealand fund manager that, in Morningstar's opinion, has achieved the highest level of funds management excellence.
Determining the KiwiSaver Category Award
The winner in this category is the provider that offers the best solution for New Zealanders' retirement savings needs. The winner is determined by a combination of qualitative research by Morningstar's manager research analysts, transparency and disclosure, investor experience, performance, and fees.
For more information about Morningstar’s other global fund awards, visit .
About Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited and Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., 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 advisers, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on more than 510,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 17 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than US$180.0 billion in assets under advisement and management at 31 December 2015. The company has operations in 27 countries.
Analyst Ratings 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.