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.
Lifetime Book Club: The Green Mile by Stephen King
Sometimes the most powerful stories aren’t the ones that scare us. They’re the ones that move us.
Stephen King might be best known for horror, but The Green Mile is a story of humanity, compassion, and courage in the face of unthinkable circumstances. Set in a 1930s prison, it follows Paul Edgecombe, a death row officer, and John Coffey, a man with extraordinary empathy and an inexplicable gift.
The Growing Divide: Why Private Medical Claims Are Surging in New Zealand
It feels like there is another headline about our public health system being under pressure every week. Long waitlists, staff shortages, and hospitals struggling to keep up. It is no surprise that more Kiwis are turning to private healthcare to get the treatment they need and faster.