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In the news

Every week our Chairman and CEO Warren Couillault shares his personal opinion on BusinessDesk, see the latest articles below.

Aug 29 2023
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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
Aug 21 2023
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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
Aug 16 2023
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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
Aug 08 2023
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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
Aug 01 2023
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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
Jul 24 2023
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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
Jul 10 2023
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If you lived on Mars, would you invest in F&P Healthcare?

By | In the news
It’s said that Asset Allocation is the most important decision in investing.  For those who don’t know, Asset Allocation or “AA” is the process by which Chief investment Officers of...
It's said that Asset Allocation is the most important decision in investing.  For those who don’t know, Asset Allocation or “AA” is the process by which Chief investment Officers of investment managers and/or private wealth advisers look to balance risk and return by apportioning an investment portfolio's assets across the three main asset classes:  equities, fixed-income, and cash.  (Alternatives may be a fourth but that’s for another day.)   Each have different levels of risk and return, so each will behave differently over time, as will different combinations thereof.  Given it's the end of the quarter and we are now (amazingly!)... Read more
Jul 01 2023
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Don’t mourn for crypto: it’s leaping back to life

By | In the news
Not since Mark Twain, have reports of a death been so greatly exaggerated.  Calling something dead and buried, is a fast and easy way to set yourself above the crowd...
Not since Mark Twain, have reports of a death been so greatly exaggerated.  Calling something dead and buried, is a fast and easy way to set yourself above the crowd as an expert.  Even better, when the thing you are pronouncing deceased rose from technological obscurity to a high-powered asset, made a few institutional investors and a multitude of arm-chair stock-pickers very wealthy, then collapsed in value.  I am talking of course about cryptocurrency. That enigmatic asset class called by naysayers ‘rat poison’, ‘a ponzi scheme’ and more recently, ‘dead’. At the end of 2022, following the spectacular collapse of... Read more
Jun 26 2023
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What we can learn from a Samsung Galaxy mobile

By | In the news
A colleague and I had a lunch the other day and we got bogged down with the current state of affairs in New Zealand:  crime problems, education problems, roading and...
A colleague and I had a lunch the other day and we got bogged down with the current state of affairs in New Zealand:  crime problems, education problems, roading and other infrastructure problems, health problems and sadly even racial problems.  The reasons for all of the above will be plentiful but all may have a common thread, indeed I am sure they do:  New Zealand is a small, low-growth and low-income economy which simply means we don’t have enough income, assets and/or wealth to fund all the spending requirements we have and want if we are to believe we are... Read more
Jun 16 2023
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Super-investor Warren Buffett and the search for hidden value

By | In the news
“Valuation”.  The word derives from the 500-year-old French word “valeur,” which means “worth” or “value.”  To most of us, and certainly those of us involved in real estate and/or financial...
“Valuation”.  The word derives from the 500-year-old French word "valeur," which means "worth" or "value."  To most of us, and certainly those of us involved in real estate and/or financial markets, the word is usually expressed as a number with a currency symbol preceding.  Your house is valued at $1 million, for example, or XYZ’s shares have a valuation of $5.00 per share etc. Valuation in financial services is a subjective word and the process of valuation is part art and part science.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  All those different valuations (you, me and everyone else including the... Read more