Fisher Funds to Reopen New Zealand Funds

For Immediate release
25 March, 2008

Fisher Funds to Reopen New Zealand Funds

Fisher Funds today announced the re-opening of its three New Zealand funds to new investments.

The Fisher Funds NZ Growth Fund, Fisher Funds Premium NZ Fund and the Fisher Funds Fledgling Fund had been closed to new investment in October 2007 as they had grown significantly and Fisher Funds was becoming a large owner in a number of its preferred listed companies.

“We closed the funds last year because we wanted to maintain reasonable ownership positions in our preferred companies, without being so large as to compromise investment decisions,” said Fisher Funds Managing Director, Carmel Fisher.

Ms Fisher said the recent downturn in global share markets has made the company’s decision to re-open its New Zealand funds a relatively easy one.

“In our view, the market turmoil of the last few months has left many good quality, proven businesses looking undervalued. We believe that there are some attractive buying opportunities in the market that will look very smart in the next year or two.

It has been frustrating for us, and our clients, to watch these opportunities emerge and not be able to invest. By re-opening our funds, we will be able to give investors the opportunity to invest at prices not seen for some time.”

She said Fisher Funds’ move to re-open its funds was made possible by the decision of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to hold these assets directly.

“This means we can now buy and own relatively more of our preferred stocks, rather than having large ownership stakes tied up with the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

“While we have enjoyed managing money for the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the size of their mandate has meant that we have had to turn away investors who wanted to be part of our New Zealand funds. That has been difficult for us as we are a retail fund manager, catering primarily to ordinary New Zealanders who want to grow their wealth over time.

ENDS

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