Biography
Daniel joined NZ Funds Management in 1996 whilst still in the Masters programme at Auckland University.  Most of his time at NZ Funds management has been focused on domestic equity analysis and management.  A highlight of this time was the development of the Dividend Yield investment approach. A few years ago his responsibilities were broadened to include external manager selection and monitoring. 

Approach
My personal investment philosophy is encapsulated in a quote by Thomas Edison the prolific inventor and successful businessman, "Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.”

It is difficult to overstate the importance of planning when it comes to investment management.  I personally have observed numerous benefits to taking the time and effort required to carefully develop and design an investment process.

A well thought-out investment process promotes clarity of thought.  Investment decision making tends to occur in a dynamic complex environment, I find a well designed investment process provides the structure required to simplify complicated decision making.  This increases the accuracy with which the best alternative can be identified thus enhancing performance.

I believe that the use of a carefully designed investment process also increases the efficiency of investment decision making.  Tailoring the investment approach to every decision inhibits scalability and increases the time it takes to make a decision.  In a world of limited resource, any increase in efficiency can be used to enhance decision making and thus improve performance.

The disciplined application of a well thought out investment process also increases the transparency and predictability of results.  In my experience the benefit of this is that I can better understand what has driven the composition of a portfolio and consequently why it has performed the way it has.

The strength of the use of a well designed investment process is evident in the success of the Dividend Yield strategy which has been successfully utilised for six years.