Ethical Investing in Focus

As a PRI signatory, we are committed to the six principles covering the incorporation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in our investment process. We actively promote and collaborate with other responsible investors and aspire to the highest levels of transparency.

We are proud that the integration of ESG issues in both our investment strategy and governance structures, and our stewardship activities as an active investor […]

Market Commentary

Market volatility returned in August, triggered by US/ China trade war tensions with new tariffs and import restrictions. Geopolitical tensions globally also fueled investor nervousness – especially tensions in Hong Kong and the ongoing (and increasingly chaotic) Brexit saga.

September is calmer with a number of positive developments: 1) US and China agreed to meet in October for another round of trade negotiations, 2) Hong Kong is set to withdraw […]

Market overview

Global markets hesitated in August, with most down between 1.9% and 4.9% and the ASX200 down 2.4%. The NZ property index was up 3.2% in August. The NZX50 was down 0.9% – without A2 it would have been up 1.6%. Global bond yields moved materially lower – the NZ10 year yield dropped from 1.48% to 1.05%, the Australian 10 year from 1.21% to 0.9%, and the US […]

2nd sep 2019 – Greg Fleming – Head of Investment Strategy, New Zealand

3rd Sept 2019

Panalpina (ticker: PWTN) is a Swiss-listed global third-party logistics provider that we have been following for a considerable time. As we identified two years ago, the logistics industry is reasonably fragmented and various companies have been active in trying to consolidate the industry, growing larger in order to generate economies of scale.

We believe that poor corporate governance tends to lead to less than optimal outcomes for shareholders […]

Insights into our corporate health

Equity markets traded with an unfamiliar level of volatility during August as investors contended with a deluge of information, both international and domestic. Global growth concerns have heightened in tandem with an escalation in the US-China trade dispute. This has resulted in the US yield curve inverting between the 2-year and 10-year durations (usually a sign of an impending recession), and we now have over US$14tn […]