Peter Beck and why it’s hard to get a startup off the ground

By | In the news
A couple of days ago, Rocket Lab suffered the failure of its 41st mission and the loss of the Earth-observation satellite its Electron rocket was carrying to orbit for its...
A couple of days ago, Rocket Lab suffered the failure of its 41st mission and the loss of the Earth-observation satellite its Electron rocket was carrying to orbit for its client, Capella Space.  Its share price immediately fell around 7% in late trading on the US’s NASDAQ market.  NZ Herald reporter, Chris Keall, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “the stakes are about to get a lot higher. Rocket Lab charges around US$7.5 million for an Electron launch.  Its much larger Neutron, on track for its first launch next year, will cost US$50 million to US$55 million per launch -... Read more

Someone needs to turbocharge the KiwiSaver scheme

By | In the news
Over the past few months, I have been quietly hoping for the politicians – certainly as they get into election campaign mode – to start talking about how we can...
Over the past few months, I have been quietly hoping for the politicians – certainly as they get into election campaign mode - to start talking about how we can improve and help KiwiSaver reach its full potential.  The strongest version of KiwiSaver was introduced in 2006 by Sir Michael Cullen.  Not a single politician has talked about strengthening KiwiSaver since, instead the various proposals from politicians seem adamant on removing it from its purpose of helping fund New Zealand’s retiring population. The Key / English National government made the most significant changes to the scheme early in its tenure. ... Read more

Australian sharemarket bounces back, despite challenges

By | In the news
Hopefully you will recall my column last week in which I wrote about New Zealand’s rather underwhelming local earnings season: so much so that, as of yesterday, the gains for...
Hopefully you will recall my column last week in which I wrote about New Zealand’s rather underwhelming local earnings season: so much so that, as of yesterday, the gains for this year on the New Zealand bourse, as represented by the NZ50 Gross Index, have been completely wiped out. This week I’m going to go across the ditch and see whether they’ve done any better in the Lucky country. Sadly, it doesn’t justify a shopping trip to Toorak Road or even better a dinner at Mimi’s out at Coogee Beach, rather it will be the view from 20,000 feet. Reporting... Read more

Stand by: earnings season good news might not last

By | In the news
And they are off! The half-yearly earnings reporting season for New Zealand’s listed companies kicked-off on Thursday 10 August with the first horse out the gate being Vital Healthcare Property...
And they are off! The half-yearly earnings reporting season for New Zealand’s listed companies kicked-off on Thursday 10 August with the first horse out the gate being Vital Healthcare Property Trust.  Vital, a specialist owner of healthcare property, announced a seemingly healthy 18% lift in net property income for F23, 99% occupancy in its properties, a weighted average lease term of 17 years, $255mn of divestments and one and half tonnes of CO2e of greenhouse gas reductions.  Looks OK to me…  One would have thought that such a good result would be a sign of a positive earnings season and... Read more

With China’s economy wobbling, the US remains my safest bet

By | In the news
One of the many things about the US I have always admired is her ability to adapt, pivot, retool etc in the face of adversity and to get things back...
One of the many things about the US I have always admired is her ability to adapt, pivot, retool etc in the face of adversity and to get things back on track.  I think a big reason for this ability is in the US’s make up: the US is essentially 50 separate but related countries all competing against each other for land, labour, capital and effectively, entrepreneurship.  Notwithstanding the inevitable ups and downs, that system breeds and fosters economic success as evident in the sheer scale of her US$27 trillion economy. When the macro environment is good (inflation is steady,... Read more

Why the US share market is so strong this year

By | In the news
The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index (or simply the S&P 500, the well-known broad measure of US corporates and the US share market) is over 15% so far this year...
The Standard and Poor's 500 Index (or simply the S&P 500, the well-known broad measure of US corporates and the US share market) is over 15% so far this year – not too bad.  The New Zealand dollar has depreciated around 7% to now be able to buy just 59 US pennies.  So, if you had some of your investments in the US sharemarket this year they would have gained more than 20% measured in New Zealand dollars – again, again, not too bad.  In contrast, the S&P/NZX 50 Gross Index (NZ’s broad measure of corporate performance and the NZ... Read more

Tax, tax and more tax …

By | In the news
I’m not alone in thinking it is a very important, perhaps even pivotal, couple of months ahead of us in at least the modern history of New Zealand.  Please try...
I’m not alone in thinking it is a very important, perhaps even pivotal, couple of months ahead of us in at least the modern history of New Zealand.  Please try to read Chris Trotter’s latest commentary – and remember his political leaning is rather left of centre!  We clearly have major societal issues confronting us.  Some of these come with an economy in recession and are financial in terms of rampant inflation, increasing cost of living that inflation brings and the associated high interest rates.  This can only mean immense pressure on households, not only in putting food on the... Read more

The hypocrisy of ethical investing

By | In the news
I was watching the news on TV on Sunday night, and I realised the hypocrisy of sustainable investing.  The sports section was sponsored by BP (a nasty fossil fuel company...
I was watching the news on TV on Sunday night, and I realised the hypocrisy of sustainable investing.  The sports section was sponsored by BP (a nasty fossil fuel company according to some), the lead story on the sports section was a story about the Sky City NZ Breakers (Sky City being a gaming / gambling company) and the political section included arguments between ACT, Labour and National parties about which would be the fastest to increase NZ Defense spending to 2% of GDP.  This was all happening on a government funded broadcaster.  That same Government has directed The NZ... Read more

The burning question in a warming world

By | In the news
Large parts of Europe have been struck by an intense and prolonged period of extreme heat over the past few weeks.  On the other side of the planet, here in...
Large parts of Europe have been struck by an intense and prolonged period of extreme heat over the past few weeks.  On the other side of the planet, here in New Zealand, snow on the ski fields has been elusive, and only this past weekend and only in Canterbury it seems, did it snow and not in the key ski resort areas of Queenstown or Wanaka. We are seeing wildfires, droughts, desertification, and some heat-related deaths in Europe.  Scientists and climate experts are constantly reminding us that extreme weather events will continue to increase because of climate change.  As we... Read more

When it comes to KiwiSaver, performance trumps fees

By | In the news
As Kiwis we are unfortunately very familiar with what I would regard as our worst behavioural trait:  the “Tall Poppy Syndrome” of taking-down or not rewarding success.  Sports get a...
As Kiwis we are unfortunately very familiar with what I would regard as our worst behavioural trait:  the “Tall Poppy Syndrome” of taking-down or not rewarding success.  Sports get a pass, you can never be too good, but when it comes to business or financial success, that's a different story. It reminds me a bit of the New Zealand funds management and KiwiSaver sector which has in most cases moved to, or is being moved towards, the lowest common denominator:  it’s all about fees. We hear about fees all the time (scolding those who charge too much and holding high... Read more