INSIGHTS

In our podcast this week, Mark Lister, Investment Director discusses another very strong week for markets, as we enter the home stretch. We discuss why investors are feeling more upbeat, what’s driving the rebound in sharemarkets and the NZ dollar, and whether this is sustainable or not. We also look ahead to another week of economic releases and company results, and share our thoughts on what investors should look out for over the coming days.

We discuss with Patrick Farrell, Chief Investment Officer at Charles Stanley in the UK, whether Brexit can be declared a success, the impact on the economy from the Ukraine war, using UK investment trusts to build international equity portfolios and more.

The Reserve Bank has delivered its bluntest reckoning of what it will take to tame inflation - weaker growth, further falls in house prices, higher unemployment and a recession. This doesn’t mean we should panic, and a lot can change in the space of 6-12 months. The best approach for investors is to hold a little more cash than usual, add to good quality fixed income, and ensure share portfolios are well diversified with a tilt to the defensive, resilient sectors that generate reliable dividend income.

Bond prices and interest rates are inversely related - so, when interest rates fall, the price of a bond will rise, and when interest rates rise, the price of a bond will fall. The reason for this is simple. Since coupons on a bond are fixed, if interest rates move, the price of the bond needs to adjust so that the effective yield (or return) on the bond is commensurate with the prevailing interest rate.

In our podcast this week, Mark Lister, Investment Director discusses last week’s monster OCR hike, some tough talk from the Reserve Bank, a business confidence survey and the latest earnings release from market heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

As part of our 'Women in Leadership' series, we spoke with Deidre Copley, Head of Fixed Income and Director to reflect on her career path to the Craigs Investment Partners board and share her learnings and advice for those wanting to progress in their career.

The FTX saga makes for uncomfortable reading, especially for anyone with funds caught up in this high-profile crypto collapse. It’s unlikely to mean the entire crypto landscape is doomed, although things could certainly get worse from here. More importantly, it’s a major warning bell for unsophisticated investors, and something they will hopefully learn from.

As part of our 'Women in Leadership' series, we spoke with Susan Peterson, Independent Director of Craigs Investment Partners to discuss diversity, inclusion, and what headway businesses need to make going forward. Susan also shares her thoughts on career progression and some important work that lies ahead.

NZX Limited’s wholly owned subsidiary, Smartshares Limited, is acquiring the QuayStreet business. The acquisition includes all ten of QuayStreet’s managed funds and QuayStreet KiwiSaver.

In our podcast this week, Mark Lister, Investment Director discusses world sharemarkets were subdued last week, while interest rates were mixed and the NZ dollar rebounded. Looking ahead, the local highlight will undoubtedly be the latest Monetary Policy Statement from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Wednesday afternoon. Another increase in the Official Cash Rate is assured, which should see it reach its highest levels since early 2009, and the only question is how high does it go.

The Reserve Bank has come under pressure recently for a whole range of things - stimulating the economy too much, fuelling inflation, being too slow to tighten monetary policy, and now causing undue pain to households. Our Reserve Bank has done no worse than any of its larger peers around the world. In fact, it’s been more proactive in many ways.