· MUFG Corporate Markets, the unit that operates registry services for equity and debt products (listed and unlisted). It is the leading New Zealand exchange-traded funds administrator.
· MUFG Retirement Solutions, operating retirement and fund administration services, including registry and fund accounting for KiwiSaver schemes, wholesale and retail managed funds, master trusts, employer workplace savings schemes and unit trusts.
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, now operating for 360 years, has become one of the world’s largest financial services groups with US$3.3 trillion in assets, holding $UStr in cash, and one of the major institutional investors in global markets.
Employing 120,000 people in more than 40 countries (with 2000 offices), MUFG aims to be “the world’s most trusted financial group, collaborating closely with our operating companies and flexibly responding to all the financial needs of our customers.”
Marcelle Ashcroft, managing director of MUFG Pension & Market Services, said “Trust and integrity was the foundation for building the New Zealand business. Working in partnership with clients is so important.
“MUFG’s concept that trust drives our future resonates with us. We may have changed our name and branding but the products and services we provide remain exactly the same.”
Stan Malcolm, the director and head of strategy and business development, said MUFG has a history of providing scale and resources.
“It’s early days of the new ownership but our opportunities are now globally-based.
“We have already brought much new technology to the (New Zealand) market and set a new standard. But we will benefit from further technology developed within the group, and continue to grow our offerings of products and solutions.”
Ashcroft said “We are already the leading provider in New Zealand corporate markets and we would like to grow the Retirement Solutions division to the same position.”
The New Zealand business, with offices in Auckland and Ashburton, is planning to add five more staff to its total of 85 by the end of the year. Ashcroft said the hirings will mainly be in the KiwiSaver and funds management area — “we have a big growth spurt at the moment.”
Link Market Services was the first to take the management of capital raisings online, starting with the Trade Me initial public offer in 2011. “The IPO was very complicated and we led with technology to get it over the line,” said Malcolm.
“It made it easier for the shareholders to participate and was a cost saving for the issuer. Now any corporate action, including share buybacks and capital raisings, is conducted online.
“We’ve also created bespoke microsites reflecting the issuer brand and provided options for what information is shown and collected,” Malcolm said.
Link Market Services rolled out its virtual meeting platform in 2015 which is now commonplace and became a crucial vehicle during the Covid-19 outbreak and lockdowns.
Shareholders can watch a special or annual meeting, vote and ask questions through the online platform.
Ashcroft said “We want to reach the stage where we are fully automated — taking out all the risk and costs is a fantastic position to be in. We can remain highly competitive and add value for our clients.”
Link Market was founded by Ashcroft, Malcolm and operations manager Lynn Wilson in late 2004 after the then NZX chairman, Mark Weldon, wanted to introduce competition in the registry business.
It was a joint venture between NZX and ASX Perpetual, an Australian share registry, and its first move was to buy BK Registries in Ashburton in 2005 — some of the original staff are still there.
Ten years later Pacific Equity Partners took over ASX Perpetual, bought out the NZX holding and changed the name to Link Group.
That business now called MUFG Corporate Markets has increased its market share from 7 per cent to more than 55 per cent in 20 years, including 50 per cent of the dual-listed issuers on the NZX and ASX exchanges.
MUFG Corporate Markets manages the register for 214 issuers including 103 of the 182 listed stocks and 62 of the 155 listed debt securities.
It looks after six of the NZX top 10 stocks — Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, Spark, Auckland International Airport, Contact Energy, Infratil and Ryman Healthcare — and 10 of the largest 20 issuers by market capitalisation. Its biggest register is Entrust, which owns 75.1 per cent of Vector, with more than 350,000 power consumers.
Malcolm said, “We took on Entrust last year as a client and revamped the whole process for managing the payment of the annual dividend to consumers ($334 to every power account), providing them with a digital online experience.
“We built a bespoke microsite for consumers to advise their payment preference and changes to personal details. The digital process was extremely well received, replacing the mailing, resubmitting completed forms and processing.
“Previously, there were more than 80,000 paper forms that were manually processed, including new electricity customers that had to get on the power roll for the dividend.
“It was a good win for us.
“It showed that our business and systems were not just for listed issuers and debt capital market products. It was enjoyable doing something a little different.”
MUFG also handles the annual digital payments for the Hawke’s Bay Power Consumer Trust with some 52,000 members. MUFG Retirement Solutions has had a strong year of growth, particularly with workplace savings schemes and superannuation products. A bespoke in-house IT system called Capital caters for all types of managed funds, KiwiSaver and other products.
“It’s a flexible system with 200 API endpoints that make a lot of data accessible to clients,” said Malcolm.
The Capital system is used under licence by two large KiwiSaver providers, ANZ and AMP, and in total, the MUFG-owned platform caters for 800,000 KiwiSaver members.
MUFG Retirement Solutions is also the registry for four KiwiSaver schemes — Medical Assurance Society, NZ Funds Management, Kernel Wealth and Investnow.
Another client, Lifetime Retirement Income, bought three legacy schemes from AMP and purchased the Aon Master Trust business with more than 14,000 members. Now, nearly $700m of funds under management have been transitioned to the MUFG system.
Malcolm said MUFG Retirement Solutions is currently transitioning a number of wholesale managed funds from other providers and will have close to 100 wholesale funds on its system by the end of the year.
Ashcroft said “We are looking at other opportunities and keen to expand to give issuers more product to work with and provide an even better service.”
MUFG is an advertising sponsor of the Herald’s Capital Markets and Investment report.
