Market & Portfolio Update - January 2020
Market & Portfolio Update - January 2020
The first month of 2020 saw volatility return to global markets, first with the attack by the US on Iran, followed by the recent health scare of the coronavirus. While global markets predominantly ended where they started in local terms, a falling NZ dollar, increased the value of unhedged overseas assets for NZ investors.
Long term interest rates around the world were lower by a quarter percent as investors retreated to safer government bonds in anticipation of the potential negative impact to global growth by the coronavirus.
At the end of 2018 we set up the NZ Innovation Booster partnership with Victoria University’s research arm, VicLink. To date, the partnership has invested in four exciting companies and this month we added two more; cancer diagnostics company Ferronova and antimicrobial coatings business Inhibit. We are very excited to be investing in NZ ideas that have the potential to transform their discoveries into products or services that have a real benefit to society.
KiwiSaver is changing
Budget 2025 has introduced some significant updates to KiwiSaver. These changes are aimed at ensuring the scheme remains sustainable while helping New Zealanders grow their retirement savings. Whether you are just starting out, nearing retirement, or somewhere in between, here's what you need to know and how it might affect your financial plans.
Lifetime Book Club: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
In a world obsessed with productivity hacks, endless to-do lists and squeezing more out of every day, Burkeman offers something radical: acceptance. Not of defeat – but of reality. Because when you really look at it, four thousand weeks (roughly 80 years) is all we’ve got. And no app or bullet journal is going to give us more.