Business Herald editor Liam Dann with David Green, ANZ's Managing Director, Institutional. Photo / Supplied
The Business Herald
Bank of the Year: ANZ
After missing out on the Bank of the Year gong at last year's Infinz Awards, ANZ returned this year to reclaim the title it won in 2010.
The judges noted that all three category finalists - ANZ, Westpac Institutional and BNZ - scored highly in terms of their support for businesses, especially in earthquake-hit Christchurch.
But they were particularly impressed with the support the winning bank was providing its clients to grow overseas, including an extensive strategy of assisting them to enter Asian markets.
David Green, managing director of ANZ Institutional in New Zealand, says part of that strategy involves taking local businesspeople on "customer tours" of Asian countries.
"We've taken a number of customers up to China, for instance, to help them understand the business opportunities that exist in that market and demystify how to do business up there," Green says.
Customers pay some of the "associated costs" of the tours, while ANZ creates the programmes and funds many of the activities.
"I've just returned back from taking a number of customers on a trip to Vietnam," he says, adding that clients taken on the trips were importers, as well as exporters.
Infinz says the awards judges were also impressed with ANZ's product innovation.
A highlight of that innovation last year was providing its customers with the ability to trade in renminbi, the Chinese currency, Green says.
New Zealand businesses trading with China have traditionally done so in US dollars, but ANZ says trading in renminbi can result in a number of benefits, including giving local firms a competitive edge, as Chinese companies can be more comfortable trading in their own currency.
"We were the first Australasian bank to provide RMB capability to our customers," Green says.
He says another highlight of last year was ANZ's association with the Rugby World Cup tournament, of which the bank was an official sponsor. "We were pretty proud of our involvement," Green says.
Heidrick & Struggles Sharebroking
Firm of the Year: First NZ Capital
First NZ Capital beat other category finalists Goldman Sachs and Macquarie Securities to take the Sharebroking Firm of the Year title.
Chief executive Scott St John says volatile overseas markets were the biggest challenge for local brokers last year.
"Whenever that [volatility] rears its head it promotes uncertainty and investors stand off a little bit," he says. "New Zealand corporates are delivering good, solid results and their balance sheets are in great shape but that offshore-driven volatility will continue to lurk around for a little while."
St John says First NZ had a solid 2011 and the broader industry would be pleased that a couple of good-sized initial public offerings had taken place.
"Trade Me and Summerset [two of last year's listings] have gone really well for investors and been great for the market," he says. Infinz said First NZ Capital was given a consistently high ranking by institutions and demonstrated clear leadership. The company last received the award in 2010, but missed out last year when the title went to Goldman Sachs.
Cameron Partners
Research Analyst of the Year: Tristan Joll, UBS NZ
Infinz says 19 broker-based analysts received votes from New Zealand equity managers in order to choose the winner of the Analyst of the Year title.
"Participation for this award from these institutions was very high, with 90 per cent of qualifying institutions participating," Infinz says.
"Tristan ranked highly across the board and is a member of the highly rated team at UBS covering the telecommunications sector."
The other finalists in the analyst category were Goldman Sachs' Marcus Curley and Warren Doak, of Macquarie Securities.
First NZ Capital
Best Corporate Communicator: Kiwi Income Property Trust
NZX-listed Kiwi Income Property Trust beat Auckland International Airport and AMP NZ Office to win Best Corporate Communicator.
Infinz says the company got consistently high ratings from the judges for its improvements in communicating with the market, its company presentations and site visits.
Craigs Investment Partners
Independent Report of the Year: KordaMentha for BayWa offer for Turners & Growers
Infinz says KordaMentha's winning report on BayWa's takeover offer for Turners & Growers scored highly on all key judging criteria. The judges also noted that it included an "excellent discussion" of the offer's merits.
Germany's BayWa initially launched a full bid for T&G, but ended up with 73 per cent of the produce company.
PwC
Equity Deal of the Year: Trade Me Group Ltd initial public offer
Issuer: Trade Me Group Ltd
Lead manager and bookrunner: UBS NZ
Online auction website Trade Me's initial public offer last December raised $364 million for Fairfax Media and was the biggest IPO that took place in Australasia in 2011.
So far, the float has worked out well for investors - the company's shares have gained around 40 per cent since making their debut on the NZX.
Judges note that the Trade Me IPO was successful despite taking place during challenging global market conditions.
"It introduced a new type of company to the New Zealand market - a well known brand but previously an unknown quantity in terms of financial metrics," the judges say in their comments on the award. "The issue met the vendor's expectations in terms of price achieved and investors have been well rewarded in secondary market trading."
Fairfax retained 66 per cent ownership of Trade Me, and has said it plans to use the capital raised in the IPO to pay off debt and increase dividends.
Chapman Tripp
Mergers & Acquisitions House of the Year: First NZ Capital
The demerger that split Telecom into two separate listed companies - lines operation Chorus and retailer Telecom - was the high point for First NZ Capital's M&A work over the past year, says chief executive Scott St John.
"We did that [the demerger] jointly with Goldman Sachs, but I think the company, along with its advisers, did a fantastic job."
Infinz says First NZ Capital - as judged by a group of leading corporates, private equity firms and legal professionals - was the winner of the M&A title by a wide margin.
"Feedback from one client was that a first class service was provided in the transaction concerned, the right contacts were utilised to get the deal going, thorough preparation was made, the team exhibited persistence and patience and of course, closed the deal," Infinz says.
Chapman Tripp
Fund Manager of the Year - Equities: Milford Asset Management
Global equity markets endured a hefty dose of volatility last year, but Milford Asset Management weathered the storm by taking a "rigorous approach" to its investments, its boss says.
Managing director Anthony Quirk reckons the company navigated 2011 well. "It was really pleasing to see us achieve the results we did for our clients."
Quirk says Milford's investment approach analysed individual companies in conjunction with the global economic environment.
"We made those macro, or big picture calls pretty well," he says. "We still have the over-arching view that things are very difficult around the world ... but that doesn't mean there aren't opportunities to [invest in] good companies that perform well. We've picked some stocks that have done very well."
Quirk says one of the companies Milford's clients have done well out of is Diligent Board Member Services.
Shares in that company, which is listed on the NZX and provides software for company directors, have gained about 200 per cent over the past 12 months. "We were prepared to take a view that the stock [Diligent] had been oversold when it went down a very long way, and that the business model was still a good one," Quirk says.
Chapman Tripp
Fund Manager of the Year - Bonds: AMP Capital Investors
AMP Capital's fixed income team responded swiftly to the February 22 Christchurch earthquake, which proved a good move, says portfolio manager Vicky Hyde-Smith.
Before the disaster, she says, the company was holding short positions in anticipation of the Reserve Bank hiking interest rates.
However the quake's impact on the local economy resulted in a 50 basis point cut to the official cash rate in March 2011, and it has remained unchanged ever since.
"We reacted pretty quickly and cut back positions," says Hyde-Smith.
She says the fact that AMP Capital had small fixed income team - herself, Grant Hassell and Warren Potter - meant it was able to react quickly to changes in the economic landscape.
"We demonstrated that in terms of what we did around the earthquake," says Hyde-Smith, who noted that, when required, the team could also draw on the resources of AMP Capital's Sydney office.
Massey University College of Business
Excellence in Treasury: New Zealand Superannuation Fund
The NZ Superannuation Fund took the Excellence in Treasury award because it demonstrated the considerable efforts it had put into understanding its unique treasury risks, the judges say.
And they say the super fund had a multi-year strategy of identifying and managing those risks in the midst of difficult market conditions.
"Bringing currency overlay in-house and designing and executing the new liquidity management framework were examples where the treasury team has made an important contribution to the organisation," the judges say.
The super fund, which was set up with the goal of helping to pre-fund the pension liabilities of the baby boom generation, had $19.5 billion in total assets at the end of March.
Trustees Executors
Debt Deal of the Year: Insurance Australia Group Unsecured Subordinated Bond
Issuer: Insurance Australia Group Ltd
Joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners: ANZ and UBS NZ
IAG's subordinated bonds issue was chosen from a competitive group of finalists to take the Debt Deal of the Year award, Infinz says.
Judges say a preliminary roadshow and a well-communicated deal structure enabled IAG to overcome investors' concerns about the insurance market and generate strong support for the issuance, which took place in a tough funding environment.
Other category finalists were ASB, for its dual tranche of ASB Bank unsubordinated notes, and Craigs Investment Partners, for Genesis Power's capital bonds issue.
2012 Infinz Fellow: David McLean
David McLean was named 2012 Infinz fellow at the awards ceremony on Wednesday night.
Infinz says McLean has been a member of the group for 16 years, having joined Infinz's predecessor organisation in 1996.
He joined Westpac in 1999 as head of its debt capital markets group and in 2004 was appointed to head Westpac's Institutional Bank in New Zealand. "David more than qualifies [for the fellowship] on the grounds of certification and seniority in the industry," Infinz says.