Fund Distribution Company Relocates to Queenstown

Press Release from FDL
September 10, 2007

Fund Distribution Company Relocates to Queenstown

A highly specialised Funds Management company has put lifestyle first by moving its head office to Queenstown.

Fund Distributors Limited (FDL) directors Michael Lodge and Michael Skeggs have relocated the business from Auckland’s CBD and set up office in the new St Peters Close on Earl Street.

The company, established in 2001, specialises in seeking out strong financial investment funds primarily from New Zealand and Australia, and bringing them to market. It looks for the funds and fund managers that offer well managed investment products with proven track-records, and distributes those products through financial advisors.

Co-director Michael Lodge said the business was based in Auckland but following his lifestyle move to Queenstown he saw no reason to continue to commute to Auckland for work.

“When my business partner Michael Skeggs also decided to move to Queenstown it was the ideal opportunity to relocate the entire office. Good systems and IT infrastructure means we can run this business from anywhere. You can’t take advantage of first tracks skiing if you’re stuck behind a desk in the city; a well-connected hub like Queenstown offers the best of both worlds.”

The focus of FDL is to help financial advisors build portfolios that provide consistent returns throughout all market conditions. This is reflected in the products they distribute.

“This area of the investment market is particularly relevant in New Zealand’s current economic climate,” said Mr Lodge. “Every New Zealander now has to think about his or her investment portfolio since the advent of Kiwi Saver.”

“While our company does not at this stage provide a direct channel to consumer investment product, it does work closely with fund managers and financial advisors to ensure strong products are available at risk and entry levels that will suit a wide range of people. We believe the key to the right investment product is the level of active management. All products that FDL works with are actively and expertly managed.”

Mr Lodge says a key point of difference with his company is a built-in alignment between investor and manager interest.

“That is the manager and key employees invest alongside the investors and are typically paid by performance fee when they have achieved their benchmark. This is very unusual in our industry – most fund managers charge a 1-2% fee no matter what their performance.”

FDL is the first business of its type to open doors in Queenstown.

“This type of business is traditionally located in Auckland, but there’s no good reason for that anymore. We have been working with our financial advisor customers for the past 11 years and interestingly, the greater portion of the money invested with those advisors comes from the South Island. We have a very strong, very rounded suite of products to offer the advisors and we’re finding no limitations to our Queenstown base.”

ENDS

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