So the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) finally ran out of patience last week, relieving Milford Asset Management from command of some $281 million.
The pre-emptive move - painted as a temporary one by NZS - caught Milford off-guard, which in a statement said it was "surprised by the decision".
However, the surprise for the rest of the industry was that NZS had taken so long to make the call. And that's not because NZS has any inside information on the outcome of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) Milford investigation - or it shouldn't have.
But the decision to suspend Milford from active duty is almost certainly the NZS simply engaging its reputational risk management protocols, which are duly described in the fund's 'Externally managed investments policy'.
"Adverse event reporting," for instance, requires external managers to report to NZS if they are the subject of any "investigation by any governmental or regulatory agency or any self-regulating organisation".