How We Think

Knowledge in investment management, as in all human capital businesses, takes many years and many experiences to accumulate. The ability to remember what has worked and what hasn’t, and the ability to put current events into a historical context, all rely on extensive experience. We treasure our human capital and we endeavour to protect and develop it wherever possible.

We seek to provide a challenging environment for our people, one in which they will be stimulated to grow personally and in business, to the greatest extent they are able.


In 1997 we committed to in writing the business philosophy by which NZ Funds Management would operate. By constantly aiming to put these principles into practice, it is hoped that NZ Funds Management will serve all its stakeholders well through time.

Commercial

  1. We want to build mutually beneficial and profitable long-term relationships with our advisers, our investors and our employees.
  2. We take an expansive view of who our clients might be, what they might need and what services we can provide to them.
  3. We seek to create and deliver significant value to our clients.
  4. We aim to achieve and sustain a cost advantage over our competitors by continually searching to deliver our services more efficiently.
  5. In pursuit of these objectives, we value:
    • Listening - to what our clients are saying;
    • Vision - anticipating what our clients may need in the future;
    • Innovation - searching for new and better ways to deliver value to our clients;
    • Quality Decisions - based on extensive analysis of the facts;
    • Urgency and Flexibility - which must be trademarks of a growing organisation;
    • Pioneering - looking to deviate from the status quo;
    • Integrity - always remembering that we are managing the hard-earned life savings of our clients.

Humanistic

  1. We are all committed to the concept of loyalty, which we define as the determined collective pursuit of the principles set out in this business philosophy.
  2. We pursue quality and depth in all matters relating to our business.
  3. We value colleagues who:
    • Bring their own individuality and spirit to our firm but respect the benefits of teamwork;
    • Seek and find the elusive balance between self-interest and group-interest;
    • Want to win but are not willing to win at the team's expense;
    • Are positive and optimistic towards life in general;
    • Have the confidence to respectfully debate issues.
  4. We care about each individual within our firm and we look to provide a positive and supportive environment in which each of us can develop and achieve our potential.
  5. We encourage individuals within our firm to own and grow their roles. We value self-motivation, self-governance and self-correction.
  6. We are informal, co-operative and open. The networks of communication within our firm are informal and relationships crisscross the firm. We expect and value an attitude of co-operation. We encourage respectful candidness in our communications with each other. We strive for a sense of community within our firm.
  7. We know that each of us will face adversity in our lives. We welcome our responsibility to support our people when adversity occurs.
  8. We know that as a firm we will face commercial adversity. Each of us is committed to the collective fortitude that will be required.
  9. We will acknowledge and reward each individual's contribution.

Environment

  1. This includes our physical workplace and our conduct within it.
  2. We believe our environment should provide a pleasant and stimulating atmosphere for us to work in. It should enhance the pursuit of our commercial and humanistic goals.
  3. We want our environment to facilitate communication between our people.
  4. It should reflect to our clients an impression of energy and professionalism.
  5. Each of us is part of our working environment. We should seek to conduct ourselves in a manner that is respectful of colleagues and mindful of our visitors.