Investment Services

Synergy is an investment portfolio which applies well-diversified, low cost, evidence-based investment philosophy. Synergy can be invested in with as little as $100 per month.

The FANZ Private Wealth DIM’s investment offering is offered to clients with more than $350,000 to invest. It offers clients access to a range of Term Deposits, Smart Beta and Active investment managers. Your FANZ Private Wealth Adviser will work with you to build a portfolio that will meet your long-term investment objectives.

The plan sits at the foundation of everything. It tells us where you want to go and how you're going to get there. It creates a process for keeping you on track and then recommends the investment solutions that are suitable for you.

If you have more than $2 million to invest our FANZ Private Wealth Advisers can build a bespoke portfolio of term deposits, direct equities, Smart Beta, and Active funds that will meet your long-term investment requirements.

We can design a portfolio for investors seeking to gain United States Of America residency that will meet the relevant and required investment criteria. Please contact us for further information.

FANZ offers socially responsible investment portfolios which adopt an investment approach which seeks to invest in companies delivering both a financial return and a social benefit.

Please click on the link for further information about the LifeStages KiwiSaver Scheme.

Key belief number one: Markets work

Competition is everything. It is to a market what wind is to a kite – it supplies the energy that makes it fly. The more buyers and sellers you have in a free market, the more competitive it is.

Capital markets tend to march steadily upwards. Historical performance graphs offer proof of this. Looking back, we can see retreats and setbacks, but the overall trend for more than a century has been one of growth. Why? It’s the way capitalism works. Because the world’s economy continues to grow over the long term, so too does the wealth generated by its capital. That’s why taking the long view is so important for investors. Here’s an example:

Key belief number two: Diversification is essential

Diversification, as we call it, is the single most important principle in investment portfolio design.

The reason for this is not hard to grasp. Wherever there is risk, by spreading it you take some of the sting out of it. That’s what diversification does. For example, if you put your savings into a single stock, you’re concentrating your risk. You’ll sink or swim on the performance of that one company. Should it plunge in value by 40% during the year, such things happen – so does the value of your entire savings. But if you bought 20 different stocks, a poor performance by one or two or even more could be offset by the gains of the others. Your overall return will always be higher than that of the worst performing stock.

So, we also diversify across asset classes and across managers. But we don’t diversify simply for the sake of it. Markets are in a state of constant flux and there are new choices to make.

Key belief number three: Structure determines performance

In this way, asset allocation works on the same principle as diversification. It’s largely about risk-limitation. What’s different here is that customers have an active role in deciding how much risk they want to take. This is an important conversation we have with all our customers. We find out where their lives are at and what their savings goals are. They are told where each asset class rests on the risk scale. Together, we come up with custom-made portfolios, each with an asset mix designed to suit the investor’s situation and appetite for risk.

As we’ve explained, there’s a strong correlation between risk and return. The asset class- es deemed to be low risk also tend to offer low returns, and vice versa. So, it follows that a portfolio structured to keep risk at a minimum will generally deliver lower returns than one where the risk threshold has been set higher. Behind every portfolio we design is a desire to create a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Time also needs to be mentioned here. Any asset allocation plan needs time to succeed, because time is another factor that lowers risk and increases potential returns. We believe time is the undemanding friend of all investors. Given time, time will give.

Key belief number four: Risk and return are related

Investing always means taking a risk (it’s important to remember that not investing means taking a risk too). How that risk is managed is crucial to successful investment.

We believe that protecting the capital our customers have invested with us is of paramount importance. So, we focus on the risk side of the equation, rather than some promise of a fabulous return.

This rigid risk philosophy can be seen in our always hedging offshore bonds back to United States Of America dollars, to negate the effect of currency fluctuation. It can be seen in our avoidance of any fixed interest investment that doesn’t have an investment grade credit rating. And it can be seen in our preference for asset types with low risk characteristics such as property and infrastructure assets.

This approach requires discipline and no small amount of humility. We don’t claim to know how a market will perform, and we think those that do are false prophets. We still aim to add value – that’s an essential part of our job. We believe in adhering to the principles that will make it work for us.

Key belief number five: The world is a riskier place than you think!

Look at what has happened in investment markets since 1990:

• 1990: Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Dow Jones falls 50%.
• 1994: United States Of America Bond Crash
• 1998: Emerging Markets Crisis 
• 2001: September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• 2002: Tech Crash
• 2007: GFC Begins

We do not know what the catalyst will be that will lead to the next market downturn but we do believe that one will occur in the future. It makes sense to reflect this in portfolio construction and to be aware of the risks inherent in your portfolio.