State-owned lender Kiwibank has extended its mark in the funds management business with the acquisition of high profile KiwiSaver funds manager, Gareth Morgan Investments.
GMI, which was set up by economists Gareth Morgan and Andrew Gawith, manages some $1.3 billion in funds in KiwiSaver, superannuation and private investment schemes. Morgan is known for his forthright economic rationalist views, and philanthropy after his big pay-day as an early investor in online auction site Trade Me when it was sold to Fairfax Media for some $700 million.
Kiwibank targeted wealth management in 2009 when teamed up with AMP Capital with four actively managed funds. It later ditched Mercer as the distributer of its KiwiSaver scheme, replacing it with AMP Capital.
GMI will operate as a stand-alone entity under the Kiwibank Wealth and Insurance line of business.
