Market & Portfolio Update - September 2018
Market & Portfolio Update - September 2018
Share markets rose further in September, shrugging off the unresolved NZ election and war of words between the United States and North Korea. The positive underlying factors driving the world economy have continued to show, supporting investor confidence and fund returns.
In a flashback to themes from earlier in the year, Donald Trump launched a much-anticipated new plan to cut taxes for US businesses, adding a potential further positive for share investors. Given the positive economic outlook, Janet Yellen, chair of the US Federal Reserve, also reconfirmed expectations for interest rates to continue to gradually rise, which would be reinforced if Trump’s tax plan is implemented.
We have bought shares in horticultural company Scales Corporation within your NZ share investments. The purchase took advantage of a dip in the company’s share price, and we expect its earnings to rise over time as it benefits from growing apple sales in its key export markets of Asia and the Middle East.
Disclaimer: This article has been prepared for the purpose of providing general information, without taking into consideration any particular investor’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Any opinions contained in it are held as at the report date and are subject to change without notice. This document is solely for the use of the party to whom it is provided.
Market & Portfolio Update - April 2022
Global share markets continued their choppy start to 2022 during April.For New Zealand based investors, a fall in the NZ dollar played an important role in helping offset the volatility global share markets experienced. The NZ dollar fell against most major currencies supporting the returns of unhedged overseas assets (assets that are free to move with exchange rates). As a result, ‘unhedged’ overseas investments fell by only 1.8% for NZ based investors.
The KiwiSaver Gender Divide – Why are women saving less and what can be done to combat this?
Recent data shows that, on average, women have 20% less in their KiwiSavers than men. The gap being at its largest between men and women in their 40s and 50s. There are a few factors that come into play causing this divide and although it will take years to achieve equality, there are ways in which we can be proactive to help close the gap. As of August 2021, the gender pay gap is at 9.1% in New Zealand, a decrease of about 0.4% from 2020’s stats.