Biography
Michael joined NZ Funds in 2007 as an Investment Analyst in the Income team. His current areas of responsibility include conducting research on Income securities, assisting in the build-out and implementation of the risk management strategies for the wider Income portfolios and Michael is also the primary trader in the Income team which encompasses the execution of cash, corporate bond, FX and interest rate trades. Prior to joining NZ Funds Michael spent 2 years working as a Financial Analyst for Vodafone.

Approach
Starting my career in the Investment management industry at the beginning of 2007, just prior to the global credit crunch, has provided me with many valuable lessons in investment management and the analysis of income securities which will stand me in good stead for the rest of my career. Some of the key lessons that I have learnt from this turbulent period have been the need to truly understand to whom we are lending our clients' money, so that the process of assessing the risk can be completed accurately. In addition to the assessment of the risk, the alignment of this risk with the client’s objective is paramount in the investment decision making process and sits at the forefront of our mind in determining which securities to purchase.

My approach to applying these lessons to investment analysis relies heavily on my quantitative skills acquired from my academic studies in mathematics, finance and computational modeling. Much of my work involves detailed, bottom up analysis of income securities to determine the risks associated with them. In addition to security analysis I also assist in the build-out of the risk management strategies we have in place which seek to minimize the downside risk in the portfolios. This work relies on detailed modeling and back testing of the strategies which further draws upon my quantitative skills.