Warminger was under pressure over poor fund performance 26 Sep 2016
Related articles
- NZ consumers grow more upbeat, may resume spending Business
- Knowles quits as CEO of KiwiBank Business
- NZ migration bolstered by British invasion Migration
- NZ manufacturing activity reaches highest since 04 Business
- NZ dollar hits 22-month high vs euro Business
- OceanaGold finds new gold deposits at Fraser mine Business
- Transpower gets go-ahead for $170m SI upgrade Business
- NZ home sales creep up in March, still subdued Property
- NZ economy expands at fastest pace in two years Business
- New Zealand food prices fall in February Business
Monday 26 September 2016 11:01 AM
Milford's Warminger under pressure over poor fund performance at time of alleged breaches
By Fiona Rotherham
Sept. 26 (BusinessDesk) - Milford Asset Management portfolio manager Mark Warminger was under pressure from the firm over the performance of funds he managed at the time of his alleged market manipulation, the Financial Markets Authority has said at the start of its High Court case in Auckland.
Warminger, who has been on extended leave from his position as a portfolio manager at the firm since last year, is fighting alleged breaches of the Securities Markets Act 1988 relating to sharemarket trading carried out between December 2013 and August 2014.
Justin Smith QC, acting for the FMA, said Warminger is accused of misusing his privileged position with an institutional investor by placing trades in stocks in one direction to move the price so he could later transact significant off-market sales, known as cross-trading, at a greater profit. He’s also accused of placing trades in companies to set artificial prices. The activities were in contravention of the act which prohibits trading that is not for a genuine commercial purpose and creates an artificial appearance in the market, Smith said.
Smith said Milford’s former managing director Anthony Quirk and director Brian Gaynor had meetings with Warminger in 2014 over performance issues because the funds under his management had not delivered the expected returns. In one example, shares in A2 Milk had dropped 36 percent which had caused a decline in fund performance over the previous six months. “That had put him under a certain amount of pressure,” Smith said.
Warminger made the trades through brokers knowing they represented prohibited market manipulation. Even if he didn’t know, lack of knowledge about the prohibition is no defence, Smith said.
The way in which he placed the trades allowed him to have anonymity in many cases, he said.
Warminger is said to be a highly experienced equities trader, having worked in New Zealand and overseas for several global firms and he had autonomy at Milford to buy and sell New Zealand traded equities without adequate oversight, Smith said.
As 31 August, 2014, Warminger had $669 million of assets in several funds under his management, including funds invested through a mandate at the time with the NZ Superannuation Fund.
Warminger could face a penalty of up to a $1 million a trade if any of them breached market manipulation rules, which he has denied.
Milford Asset Management has paid a $1.5 million fine under an agreement with the FMA following a year-long investigation. It also committed to introducing new governance and trading controls as recommended in a PwC review.
Last week Milford played down its role in the case which is only the second market manipulation trial in New Zealand. In a note to clients, Milford said there was likely to be media coverage of the case and that its only role was through background evidence to be provided by executive director Brian Gaynor. It said the issues were not “clear-cut” around how the relevant law applies to trading practices.
Warminger still has a 1.5 percent shareholding in the 13-year-old firm which has more than $3.5 billion of funds under management, mainly through KiwiSaver, and 20,000 clients.
(BusinessDesk)
ends
News
Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students
29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more
New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process
7 Mar 2020 News
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more
Business
NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19
17 Mar 2020 Business News
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more
NZ Government announces aviation relief package
19 Mar 2020 Business News
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more
Living
Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London
6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall.
It was the first... more
Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate
12 Jan 2022 Arts
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...
New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more
Property
Fairer rules for tenants and landlords
17 Nov 2019 Property
17 NOVEMBER 2019
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more
New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax
17 Apr 2019 Property
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more
Migration
Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued
19 Nov 2019 Migration
19 NOVEMBER 2019
We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more
Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location
18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018
HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY
The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more
Travel
Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
more
Sport
The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners
27 Oct 2019 Cricket
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more
PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final
26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
First published on Werewolf
The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more
Kiwi Success
Congratulations to Loder Cup winner
26 Sep 2018 People
25 SEPTEMBER 2018
The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more
Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
HON JENNY SALESA
Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more
Recruitment
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
14 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
22 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more