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Investment Commentary – April 2021
Global sharemarkets performed strongly in April, continuing the positive sentiment that has existed for most of 2021 so far. The three key themes for the continued strong performance are: The continued roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine across the world; Better than expected results from US companies as many announced their annual results over...
COVID-19 and the global market performance
There is an old saying that states if something seems too good to be true then it probably is. And in a world where bank term deposits are paying less than 1%, investors should look at funds with returns of 30% with suspicion. AdviceFirst adviser Brent Hunt provides commentary on the 12 month returns to the end of March 2021, and why these...
Understanding your retirement investment projection
You have just received an investment projection from your financial adviser. On first glance it looks as though you’ll be running out of money in retirement. It’s been a long day and suddenly you feel an unwanted sense of panic. Stuffing the report into the folder marked “retirement”, you head to the couch and pick up the TV remote…………… For many...
Trauma insurance – help when you need it most
Nobody likes to think about serious illness or injury, but putting the right insurance policies in place will help protect your finances should you find yourself in these situations. One of our clients, James*, 61, was diagnosed with prostate cancer over a year ago. As you can imagine this was a very challenging time for James and his family. But...
New housing policy: a boon for diversified investors?
The Government has announced significant changes to taxation that will affect residential property investors. Designed to slow runaway house prices, the phased removal of mortgage interest deductibility from rental income was unexpected and received a mixed response. For those looking to buy a home, there was a flicker of hope. For property...
Sustainable Investing or greenwashing?
Sustainable investing is becoming increasingly popular with more and more Kiwi’s showing their interest in the environmental, social and human capital impacts of the funds they are investing in. Due to this demand several funds have sprung up that are labelled “responsible”, “ethical” or “sustainable”. But do they really live up to label or is...