Biography
Louis started working in the investment industry in 1996. His career began at RMB Asset Management, one of the largest fund management companies in South Africa. He also spent time working for the same company in their London office as part of the global fixed interest team. More recently, he worked for BNZ Private Bank as a member of the portfolio management team. Louis joined NZ Funds in 2007 and has since focused his efforts on the investment communications produced by the firm.  

Approach
Towards the end of 2008, NZ Funds started changing the way it communicates to advisers and clients. The calls for greater transparency were met with a document that is now produced monthly and is referred to as the ‘Portfolio Insights’. This is our flagship investment communication and is something that we believe is unique.

Anyone reading this document will hopefully gain a better understanding of what each portfolio holds, the drivers of performance, and the risk management techniques that have been employed. Best of all, we’ve provided the contact details for each portfolio manager at the back of the document. Should a reader have any questions, these can easily be answered through a simple telephone call to the appropriate portfolio manager.

Another major change in NZ Funds’ approach has been to make our investment communications available through our public website. In addition to the Portfolio Insights, a range of interesting publications have been uploaded to our website. There are essays on a number of the external managers that we have appointed, market commentaries on topical issues, and research papers on some of the asset classes in which we invest.

Looking ahead, our aim is to continue building a suite of investment communications that meets the needs of advisers and clients, and sheds light on how we think about investments.