Market & Portfolio Update - August 2020

10 September 2020 by Lifetime in Investments, Market Update

Market & Portfolio Update - August 2020

Global share markets rose nearly 5% in August as investors continue to digest news about ongoing vaccine developments and look for returns in a low interest rate environment.

Australian shares rose over 3% as the Covid-19 outbreak in Victoria eased. This resulted in another month of overall positive returns for funds, even as some uncertainty remains for the general economic backdrop.

For our Booster clients, the portion of members' global shares investments managed by California-based Fisher Investments added value by outperforming the general return on global share markets. This came largely from Fisher’s allocation to technology companies, such as Apple and sales software provider Salesforce. These both benefited from sales being supported by global customers looking to technology solutions to help them and their businesses through the pandemic.

preview image - RBNZ Cuts OCR to 2.5%: What It Means for Borrowers

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.

10 October 2025 by Taviri Ono in Home Loans