KiwiSaver in suspense: Why contribution holidays have expensive endings

Article written by InvestNow – 31 July 2023

In 2019 the government formally rebranded the popular KiwiSaver ‘contribution holiday’ as ‘savings suspension’ in an attempt to make the option seem less attractive, and hopefully discourage people from taking up the option of halting their KiwiSaver contributions.  

The brand twist did not make an immediate impact: whether they viewed it as getting suspended or going on holiday, […]

Fund Manager Diversification – The power of ‘And’

Article written by InvestNow – 3rd July 2023

Kiwi consumers have a long history of getting the short end of the stick.  

Perhaps it’s our small size, or the fact that we’re tucked away at the bottom of the world, but the general lack of innovation and competition in NZ has struck retail shoppers here with fewer and more expensive options compared to offshore counterparts.  

Take […]

More and better: what InvestNow members want in a higher-rate world

Article written by InvestNow – 1st June 2023

In the sharpest about-turn on record, the NZ official cash rate (OCR) has jumped from the historical low of 0.25% at the end of September 2021 to a possible plateau of 5.5% in May this year.

Proportionally, the OCR is now 22-times (or 2,200%) higher than the nadir that held for 18 months from March 2020.

Kiwi investors have noticed.

Following years […]

Don’t read all about it: why media is not the last word on investing

Article written by InvestNow – 27th April 2023

Stuff happens all the time.

Stuff such as the November 2021 float of NZ-founded shoe company, Allbirds, on the US stock market.

“Investors in Allbirds could have almost doubled their money,” ran the Stuff headline the following day.

The Stuff article quoted then-head of US share-trading outfit, Hatch, Kristen Lunman, talking up the “exciting” Allbirds buzz.

Hatch, along with fellow […]

A piece of the pie: New Zealand’s largest asset class (probably) isn’t what you think

Article written by Dave Tyrer, Chief Operating Officer from Squirrel – 23rd April 2023

People pretty much have four main options when it comes to investing their money: cash, property, equities, and bonds or debt.

Globally, it’s the latter – debt markets – which are the largest and deepest. And, of course, debt comes in a variety of flavours, all backed by different types […]

Take a hike: different routes for different rates

Article written by InvestNow – 30th March 2023

Short-term interest rates have gone from next to zero to 4% plus in next to no time over the last 18 months.

The pace of rate hikes has been the fastest in decades even if the cruising speed remains well below historical highs.

From August 2021, for instance, the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) has juiced up the official cash rate from […]

Simple portfolio construction with Anthony Edmonds

Article written by Anthony Edmonds, InvestNow Founder – 30th March 2023

Like builders who never finish the family home, investment professionals often put their own financial affairs on the backburner while happily completing well-crafted solutions for clients.

So what does the inside of a fund manager’s personal portfolio really look like? InvestNow founder, Anthony Edmonds, opens the door on his newly renovated strategy for the […]

Mindless money: why ESG extreme exclusionists should concern investors

Article written by Anthony Edmonds, InvestNow – 31st January 2023

ESG – shorthand for environmental, social and governance – has moved from the fringes of the investment universe to its gravitational centre in less than a decade.

And the concept that investors should take into account a broader range of non-financial factors when assessing company valuations makes intuitive sense: many fund managers likely already incorporated such information long before the […]