Crypto operates on the greater fool theory. Because it has little real world use currently, investors are buying it on the premise that they will be able to find someone down the line willing to buy it off them – the greater fool, or some optimist who believes they have found their own golden ticket.
Okay, the annual inflation is now running at 3.3%. In the June 2021 quarter compared with the March 2021 quarter, the New Zealand Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.3%. A much stronger lift than the market expectations. So what does it mean to us?
No matter the vehicle was chosen to navigate, once a company enters the public marketplace, it becomes subject to the same interactions between the supply and demand for securities that shape equity prices each day.
Over the course of our lives, there are many uncomfortable questions and conversations to be had. But it is safe to say, those dealing with financial well-being are perhaps the most persistent and difficult.
Finding the best place to put your investments and KiwiSaver can be tricky, but you don't have to do it alone. A financial adviser can help build a portfolio based on your risk appetite and goals. An adviser with a fiduciary duty will have tools to assess how much risk you are happy to take and develop a plan to reach certain milestones in your life.
If you are frequently checking the portfolio balance, then you may see a rise in your anxiety and stress levels. Behavioural finance studies confirm that investors tend to be more cautious when they check portfolios regularly, with adverse long-term consequences for their investing goals.
New Zealanders are not keen on diversifying. NZX makes up 0.01% of the world’s share market capitalisation, but most New Zealand investor portfolios are overly weighted to the home market. In other words, a New Zealand investor with a strong home bias would have just a 7% allocation to technology, compared to approximately 16% in the global portfolios.
Any company can run into difficulty. Most potential good news is already built into the stock price of a blue-chip favourite. Bad news tends to be unexpected and can cause significant damage to the share price.
Investment fads are nothing new. When selecting strategies for their portfolios, investors are often tempted to seek out the latest and greatest investment opportunities.
Making sensible investment decisions is difficult. We are subject to a range of behavioural biases. We have to cope with incessant noise around financial markets. We behave in ways that are inconsistent with our long-term investment objectives. So, what can we do about it?
Depending on luck is simply not a sustainable investment strategy. Evidence-based, goal-based investment may not sound as exciting but is also a lot less work.
Volatility is back. Just as many people were starting to think markets only ever move in one direction, the pendulum has swung back the other way. Anxiety is a completely natural response to these events. Acting on those emotions, though, can end up doing us more harm than good.
According to a global sustainable investment group that covers Australia, New Zealand and other developed nations, assets managed under "responsible investment" strategies increased by 25 per cent between 2014-16 to US$22.89 trillion.
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