Australian-Based Morphic Asset Management Joins InvestNow

Boutique Australian-Based Morphic Asset Management Joins InvestNow

Change is opportunity: new InvestNow international shares fund charts well with NZ clients

Boutique Australian-based global shares specialist Morphic Asset Management has been a surprise hit on the InvestNow platform since going live this September.

Mike Heath, InvestNow general manager, said demand for the Morphic Global Opportunities Fund on the NZ platform has more than exceeded expectations.

“Morphic is a high-quality global equities manager with a well-established reputation in Australia,” Heath said. “But given the brand is less familiar to NZ retail investors we thought it would take some time to build interest here. “We were wrong.”

From the outset he said the Morphic fund has attracted InvestNow clients looking for an active exposure to international shares.

Heath said the immediate popularity of Morphic shows NZ retail investors are willing to embrace active fund managers that have a proven record and a point of difference.

“It’s all about giving investors the choice,” he said. “InvestNow is pleased that we can offer clients access to unique boutique managers like Morphic or NZ’s own Pathfinder and Elevation in addition to big name firms and low-cost, index-tracking favourites.”

Co-founded in 2012 by Jack Lowenstein, Morphic describes itself as an ‘absolute return’ manager, which looks to provide positive results across all investment climates.

The fund operates under the firm’s philosophy of ‘Change Creates Opportunity’, investing in listed companies across the world that are set to benefit from morphing global economic conditions.

However, Morphic seeks to identify those companies exposed to enduring changes rather than one-hit wonders. In particular, the manager focuses on transformative trends across industries, technology as well as broader economic and political shifts.

The Global Opportunities Fund has a wide investment remit allowing it, for example, to ‘short’ stocks the manager expects will underperform or allocate more to cash if it believes shares are over-valued.

Prior to launching Morphic, Lowenstein had a hallowed career as deputy chief investment officer at the well-known Australian ethical international shares manager, Hunter Hall. He shares chief investment officer duties with fellow Hunter Hall veteran and Morphic co-founder, Chad Slater.

Before joining Hunter Hall, Lowenstein served for many years as a financial journalist.

After less than a year in operation InvestNow boasts well over $100 million across 15 firms and 78 underlying products. The Wellington-based direct-to-investor funds platform is a division of Implemented Investment Services (IIS).

In September 2017, InvestNow signed a deal to take over as provider to clients currently using the RaboDirect NZ funds platform. RaboDirect, a division of the Netherlandsheadquartered global banking giant Rabobank, administered about $120 million for retail investors in about a dozen underlying managers.

While RaboDirect charged investors a 0.75 per cent administration fee, InvestNow is fee-free bar the underlying fund costs.

ENDS

About InvestNow

InvestNow is 100% owned by Implemented Investment Solutions (www.iisolutions.co.nz), a Wellington-based investment industry specialist business. InvestNow is a Financial Service Provider (FSP534448).

InvestNow provides investors, who know what they want to do, the ability to directly invest in a select range of funds from both NZ and Global fund managers - namely AMP Capital, ANZ Investments, Devon, Fisher Funds, Harbour Asset Management, Hunter Investment Management, Mint Asset Management, Nikko Asset Management, Russell Investments, Salt Funds Management, Smartshares and Vanguard.

Without the need for a middleman, and our no-advice direct investment service, InvestNow does not charge any administration or transaction fees. Investors can manage their portfolios, investing in PIE funds and Australian Unit Trusts, 24/7 – NZ Fixed Interest; Global Fixed Interest; NZ Shares; Global Shares; Cash; and NZ Property funds are available.

InvestNow provides investment accounts for NZ Individuals, Joint Accounts, Family Trusts and NZ Companies.

As an additional layer of online security, we utilise two-factor-authentication for customers when logging in to their accounts. We will send the customer a unique Passcode as part of the login process, for which they can select e-mail or text messaging.

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