Looking back at what we have covered this year, in our magazine, we’ve covered a real broad spectrum of topics on building and managing your portfolio.  Tax has featured a couple of times along with selecting fund managers and funds.

For this edition we thought we’d take a look back and refresh your memory, providing links to the lead articles of 2018.

Building your portfolio

• InvestNow customers are strategically-focused investors.

Excluding performance, about 75 per cent of survey respondents ranked the overall investment approach as important when selecting a fund manager.

• The turbulent start to 2018 is a timely reminder for investors to ensure their portfolios are fit-for-purpose – and perhaps even to review that purpose.

Investment goals vary from person-to-person and change over time. There are many online tools now available to help determine what kind of investor you are – the so-called ‘risk profile’ – including the popular Sorted ‘Investor Kickstarter’.  Or you could seek professional financial advice.

• There are some broad principles investors can apply to their investment route-planning process that generally include:
  • Working out your goals and objectives;
  • Understanding the risks – and your tolerance for them;
  • Assessing your current financial resources; and,
  • Merging the above three factors into a clear financial travel map.
• While an investor’s SAA (strategic asset allocation) helps describe the route, end-point and comfort levels of the proposed trip, an investor has to ultimately choose between different investment vehicles to translate their plan into action.

Many investors are happy enough taking the bus; others might prefer to drive a car themselves.  Or for the thrill-seekers there’s always a motorbike.

• Property – for New Zealand investors listed real estate funds provide the simplest entry (and exit) point to the commercial property market. Listed property funds – also known as real estate investment trusts (REITs) – can specialise in regions or sectors or take a global approach.
• Impact of FX – fluttering foreign exchange (FX) movements have an enormous influence on the point-in-time returns for all Kiwi investors with offshore assets.
• Income Funds – Investors leaning to the income side of the spectrum – be that because they are retired or simply prefer a regular cash-flow from their assets – have had a much tougher time of it in recent years.

Tax – we can’t get enough

• Avoid the tax burn.

Before 2007 fund investors in NZ were served up the financial equivalent of meatloaf: returns and tax were baked together into one unappetising lump according to the antiquated legislative recipe of the day.

• Going global: tax tips and traps for local investors. Retail investors, in particular, have a complex series of scenarios to consider when planning their offshore equity adventures – and almost all of the complication is due to tax.

Thinking ahead about the volatility

• How to stay on target as market bullets wake the share bears

The final quarter of 2018, however, has put investors under real fire for the first time in years. During October both the NZX and global share markets were down about 9 per cent – a period that has included daily falls of 3 per cent or more.