The outbreak of COVID-19 has provided numerous examples of decisions that are seemingly fuelled by stress and uncertainty; from the bizarre stockpiling of toilet paper to investors moving between funds and cashing out.
Many of us will agree that the COVID-19 economy in New Zealand has resulted in record-levels of government borrowing and Reserve Bank lending. Soon it may challenge the idea that we are supposed to keep those two things separate.
By now, most people are aware that our world – especially the situation with COVID-19 pandemic – is changing and developing lightning fast. A mystery COVID-19 outbreak in Auckland on 11 August has forced the government to postpone the dissolution of parliament as the country’s alert levels changed at noon on 12 August.
In mid-January 2020, China was announcing confirmed human to human contact of Covid-19, locking down Wuhan province and building temporary hospitals. While many investment managers carried out daily operations, some had their eye on China.
Do you find it confusing when a bleak economic report emerges from the press, only to be accompanied by a positive surge in the global share market? You're not alone. The last few months have produced many examples of a stark contrast between global market performance and economic indicators.
Over the past few weeks, we have been answering lots of money and market-related questions that members of our community have asked. Not surprisingly, a lot of the questions have had to do with the market volatility and how that can, or should, affect their investments.
Budget 2020 is unveiled under the most challenging economic conditions since 1984 and with expectations from the whole nation that it will cushion the economy from the fallout from COVID-19, the stakes are surely high. This budget is seen as the voyager for our journey around the dark side of the moon.
LVR restrictions are one of the four macro-prudential tools used to help reduce risks with rising household debt. So, why would the RBNZ take LVR restrictions to the woodshed which could potentially push the household debt to newer heights when uncertainty abounds?
As a nation, we did everything in our power to slow down the COVID-19 spread, and at the end of level 4 four weeks lock down, roughly 400,000 of us headed back to work. New Zealand is hopefully at the tail of the epidemic, and with single-digit new cases, we would likely move on from Level 3 very soon. So, what next?
While industries such as tourism and hospitality will be worst hit by the pandemic, Hawke's Bay's main economic industries are still able to continue in some form or another in a strong capacity in the near to long future.
Stressful events such as the current bear market are an unpleasant reality, with many investors trying to wish away negatives results in the hope they become a distant memory, but they also provide incredibly important lessons for investors and financial advisers.
Periodic rebalancing is generally a good way to keep your investments on track and to prevent your portfolio from changing too drastically during volatile markets – like the one we are experiencing now with COVID-19 outbreak.
The largest, brightest Super Moon of 2020 rose in the night sky on 7 April over hushed cities, stilled factories and countries in lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has affected close to two million people so far.
Just like the dark side of the Moon, “everyone is selling” is a technically flawed statement. It’s important to remember that investing is a long-term game and panic selling can do more harm than good to an investment journey.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has provided numerous examples of decisions that are seemingly fuelled by stress and uncertainty; from the bizarre stockpiling of toilet paper to investors moving between funds and cashing out.
Nobody knows how long the pandemic will last or what shape the recovery will take, and there are no easy answers on how to handle these unexpected changes to business as usual.
We want to share some important updates about how we are protecting our clients, staff and business as New Zealand’s COVID-19 alert level has moved from Level 2 to 3 (as of 23 March) and will move to Alert Level 4 in 48 hours’ time.
With so much to decipher on a daily basis, between the stock market and the number of new COVID 19 cases confirmed, it is at times like these that our worst behavioural impulses come to pass due to the overload of information.
An important part of our role at Stewart Group is to give our clients the confidence that it is sensible and prudent to remain disciplined when stock markets are volatile. We think this video will hopefully add to that confidence.
Considering recent developments related to the coronavirus in New Zealand, we would like to make you aware of the business continuity measures we are taking.
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