Lead partner explains how the structure benefits everyone, including clients
DLA Piper has advised an investment manager in a pioneering investment arrangement in New Zealand.
The global legal giant advised Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS) in the launch of three portfolio investment entity (PIE) funds as part of the Hobson Wealth Investment Funds Scheme.
The DLA Piper team was headed by partner Alasdair McBeth, who said that the deal was an exciting project for the firm.
“This is the first fund-hosting arrangement of its type with a local wealth-management business,” McBeth said. “It’s a smart fund-management solution that enables costs to be trimmed for clients while allowing both parties to concentrate on their respective core areas of expertise.”
Managing close to $4bn in assets, ISS is a Wellington-based provider of “fund hosting” services used by major overseas fund managers to facilitate their operations in New Zealand, DLA Piper said. Hobson is a well-known private wealth-advisory team.
DLA Piper advised IIS on all the legal work needed to establish the funds, including drafting the governing documents, as well as reviewing disclosures and currency hedging arrangements.
The firm said that the new PIE funds allow Hobson’s advisers to service a large group of New Zealanders who have fallen through the “advice gap.”
