June 2019 Report
Global equity markets rallied +6.6% in June as they shrugged off trade war fears, with central banks across the world indicating further stimulus was at hand. US markets led the charge to record highs.....
Monthly Reports
May 2019 Report
Turmoil returned to global equity markets in May following Donald Trump's latest salvo in the ongoing US/China trade war.
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April 2019 Report
April was another strong month for global equities with the MSCI World Index rising 3.6%, taking gains for the year to 16.7% the strongest start to the year since 1987.
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March 2019 Report
The equity market recovery rolled on in March with most major indices closing higher.
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February 2019 Report
February saw a continuation of the strong rebound in equity markets which began in the last week of December when the Fed about turned on its tightening agenda.
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January 2019 Report
Equity markets snapped back from December's carnage with the S&P 500 up 8.0%, its best January since 1987. Tech stocks led the charge driving the Nasdaq up 9.7% while the local NZX50 dragged the chain with a measly gain of 2.0%.
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December 2018 Report
The roller coaster ride that has been global equity markets lately became more extreme in December with the MSCI World Index falling -7.5% despite rallying +5% in the last four days of the week.
November 2018 Report
Uncertainty reined in November as the general weakness in equity markets rumbled on for the first few weeks of the month...
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OCTOBER 2018 REPORT
The "October Effect" - or the "Halloween Effect" if you're American - received renewed impetus this month with global equity markets taking a battering.
The theory goes that stock markets tend to fall in October and is probably due to the October stock market crashes of 1929 and 1987.
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SEPTEMBER 2018 REPORT
We could join the chorus of opinion about what is happening in global equity and bond markets but we really have no unique insights to add. In the quarter, and for the past few years, we have read numerous arguments for why we are approaching the end of this current rise in share.
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August 2018 Report
August was an interesting month locally with the half yearly reporting season an opportunity for local managers to review their portfolios and gauge the mood of the market
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July 2018 Report
After hitting new highs at the beginning of the month the NZ stock market eased slightly to end the month down a modest -0.2%. Meanwhile listed property paused for breath having gained 9.1% in the last five months.
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June 2018 Report
Lately I have had a number of people ask me 'what are you investing in these days'?
To explain this, I really need to explain what we are trying to achieve, which of course boils down to what our clients want to achieve.
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May 2018 Report
The 'balanced' portfolio has become an institution in the financial world. Equities and bonds are the main ingredients and the 'mix' determines the categories of balanced funds commonly used.
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April 2018 Report
A question we are being asked about current portfolios is why we have so much in equities?
This is a fair question for retirees who rely on income from their portfolio and have a low tolerance for capital loss. It is also a fair question for someone seeking growth but with an emphasis on capital preservation.
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MARCH 2018 REPORT
The local NZX50 closed the '17/18 financial year with a whimper as it fell -0.7% for the month, ending the quarter down -0.9% but despite this gaining 15.6% for the year.
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February 2018 Report
The local stock market gave up all of January's gains this month following a fall of -0.8% for the NZX50 while across the Tasman the ASX All Ordinaries rose a modest 0.2% albeit continued strength in the kiwi dollar reduced this to -0.9% in NZD terms
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January 2018 Report
Market corrections are always uncomfortable. After a very strong start to the year in January, accompanied by talk of a 'melt-up', markets have suddenly decided instead that it was time for a 'melt down'.
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December 2017 Report
December was another strong month for equities with increases of +2.6%, +2.0% and +1.0% for the New Zealand, Australian and US markets respectively, however the relative strength of the Kiwi dollar detracted somewhat from US returns which were -2.8% in NZD terms.
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November 2017 Report
We are beginning to sound like a stuck record as equity markets seem to be hitting new record highs on a monthly basis.
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October 2017 Report
The bull market in global equities continued to roll on in October with gains of +2.7%, +4.1% and +2.2% for the NZX50, Australian All Ords and US S&P500 respectively.
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September 2017 Report
Global equities ended yet another strong month, up +2.3% (+1.6% in NZD), taking their gains to +5.4% (+6.5%) for the quarter and +18.8% (+19.8%) for the year.
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August 2017 Report
The music continued to play in equity markets with the NZX50 up +1.6% in August, its eighth monthly increase in a row and its 2nd longest winning streak in the last 20 years. This was only trumped by the US where the S&P 500 recorded a record 10th positive month in a row.
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July 2017 Report
July saw a continuation of the placid and rising equity market globally and locally. Global equities rose 2.8%, led by a 6% rise in Emerging Markets, and a 2% rise in the S&P500. The NZX50 rose 1.1% while Australia was flat.
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June 2017 Report
Our portfolios continue to muddle along, with a number of our managers struggling with the very low volatility in markets and the high correlation between stocks.
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May 2017 Report
Global equity markets rose +2.3% in May, led by the UK (+4.4%), Emerging Markets (+3.0%) and Japan (+2.4%), while closer to home markets were more subdued with the local NZX50 rising +0.5% and Australia's All Ordinaries falling -2.6%, largely on the back of weakness in the financial sector (-10% see below).
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April 2017 Report
With a third of the year already gone the local NZX50 is currently up 7.2% while the Australian All Ordinaries and MSCI World Indices are up 5.3% and 8.2% respectively. Over 12 months NZ equities are up 8.2% vs 10.0% and 15.3% for the Australian and World markets.
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March 2017 Report
For most NZ investors March 31 is the end of the financial year. It is always interesting to cast our minds back to what we were thinking this time last year. In our March 2016 newsletter, we described a world concerned about global growth.
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February 2017 Report
The February reporting season passed relatively uneventfully on the local market with analysts upgrading their 2017 earnings forecasts for 62% of the companies reporting versus 38% that received downgrades, although the optimism was dampened by a slight fall in expected earnings growth to 5.8%.
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January 2017 Report
Global equities continued on with the pre-Christmas rally in January, with the tech heavy Nasdaq index and Emerging Markets particularly strong, gaining 4.3% and 5.5% respectively. The S&P500 was up 1.8% but Europe and the UK were marginally weaker, down 0.6%, similar to the All Ords Accumulation Index in Australia, which fell -0.8%, mostly due to weakness in the banks.
