Market & Portfolio Update - April 2021
Global share markets continued their march higher during April, rising 4% in local currency terms. Economic data has brushed off the horrid Covid situation in India and continues to surprise to the upside. Labour markets are rebounding quickly compared to other cycles and business confidence surveys sit comfortably in expansionary mode.
One theme that continues to be front of mind for investors is rising inflation around the world. Covid-19 has disrupted the global supply chain, initially causing things to grind to a halt before quickly needing to ramp back up to levels higher than pre-covid. This “whip” type effect, along with the large-scale stimulus, has resulted in inflation rates rising. We began adjusting our investments for this in the second half of 2020, by adding inflation-linked bonds in both the NZ fixed interest and global fixed interest sectors.
A Great Way to Get onto the Property Ladder and Get Ahead
If I were 22 years old again and wanting to get ahead, one effective option would be to buy a personal house and then have flatmates.
RBNZ Cuts OCR to 2.5%: What It Means for Borrowers
On 8 October 2025, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 50 basis points to 2.5%, its largest move in more than three years.