NZ economist cops UK flak

An economist who has held senior roles in the Reserve Bank, Treasury and New Zealand's biggest fund manager has hit the headlines in Britain - but not in a good way.

Roger Greville, who was put in charge of a £600 million ($1.6 billion) investment fund in Britain in 1998, had "embarked on what has so far been a disastrous investment strategy", the Times reports.

The private equity fund has lost more than £100 million during a golden era for private equity when most rival players have produced spectacular profits for their investors.

Now, his employer, Henderson Group, is under pressure to explain why it entrusted a fund looking after the money of two million policyholders to Greville.

Henderson, which is listed in London and Sydney, was spun off from Australia's second-biggest fund manager, AMP, in 2003.

It sold its life businesses such as Pearl to a venture capitalist last year to focus on managing investments.

Greville headed AMP's fund management arm in New Zealand.

- NZPA