Financial advisers

The following is a selection of articles mainly from January 2005 to the present. To explore this topic in more depth and access earlier columns, please use the search box.

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Articles

NZ Herald 31 July 2010

Q&As: Two readers are unhappy with ASB's closing of some of its investment funds - with some justification, but only "some".
Another reader gives up on reading this column, claiming I am "inside the tent" with the financial industry

NZ Herald 24 July 2010

Q&As: One reader is angry that ASB is closing the trusts he's invested in, while ...
Another reader sees it as a great opportunity to try a new investment strategy with term deposits
I might be a duck or a weasel, but I'm not a financial adviser

NZ Herald 26 June 2010

Q&As: Reader's golden suggestion for investing proceeds of a house sale is worrying
3 Q&As about KiwiSaver details - for people in other super schemes, children, and newly signed up KiwiSavers
More ideas on alternatives to "Mum and Dad" investors, including from a top government official

NZ Herald 13 February 2010

Q&As: Some active share funds will do better than passive index funds, but it's impossible to predict which ones
Don't go chasing high-performing KiwiSaver funds - here's how to choose your provider
Another index fund available in New Zealand
Fee-charging advisers don't gain from putting clients in higher risk investments than they should

NZ Herald 6 February 2010

Q&As: It's not wise to let yourself be forced into being a landlord
Which New Zealand providers offer passive or index funds?
What are the minimum investments in passive funds?
Details on how the new resolution schemes for disputes with advisers will work

NZ Herald 30 January 2010

Q&As: Investing doesn't have to be a part-time job. There's still time for novel reading.
KiwiSaver calculation - far from being wrong - is correct to the cent.
How the lack of a tax credit for kids in KiwiSaver affects contributions to their accounts.
There's much more to financial advice than just investing.

NZ Herald 23 January 2010

Q&As: Should couple repay mortgage with redundancy money, or invest it in KiwiSaver or elsewhere?
Big KiwiSaver provider should know better about first-year tax credits
More information available about investment advisers - and are hourly or percentage fees better?
Less room for trouble if people make their own investments after seeking adviser's recommendations

NZ Herald 12 December 2009

Q&As: Which investment advisers charge fees - and why that is a good start
Winners of draw to go to Taskforce breakfast and lunch

NZ Herald 5 December 2009

Q&As: Adviser's advice is shocking - on three counts
Does it make sense to want your charity dollars to all go to the frontline?
When should you reduce your KiwiSaver contributions?

NZ Herald 7 November 2009

An invitation to attend a breakfast representing investors
Q&As: Independent fee-charging advisers - the ones readers should be able to count on - to be listed in this column
Are accountants obliged to minimise tax, and to not dob in their clients to Inland Revenue?
Contributing to adult children's KiwiSaver accounts a good idea, even if they end up losing some of it in a marriage break-up

NZ Herald 31 October 2009

Q&As: Tax agent and Inland Revenue differ on treatment of investors selling rental properties
Two big issues lead to bad financial advice results
Is this column dominated by KiwiSaver?
Generally, don't put lump sums into KiwiSaver

NZ Herald 24 October 2009

Q&As: Are house prices less likely to fall in posher suburbs?
Financial advisers paid by commissions can't do as well as someone who is independent
Two Q&As on why recently issued preference shares are not good investments

NZ Herald 17 October 2009

Q&As: Are preference shares a good investment, despite recent price falls?
Did reader get good advice from an ASB adviser?

Syndicated column 5 September 2009 - Performance pay not as good as it sounds

Here's a radical idea: pay financial advisers according to the performance of the investments they put you in. Sounds appealing, but would it work?

NZ Herald 29 August 2009

Q&As: Just because a so-called financial expert is confident, that doesn't mean he or she is right
If you haven't worked for a while any time in the last five years, you may well be in for a tax refund
Don't delay joining KiwiSaver, even if you're worried that you could be made redundant
KiwiSaver tax credit lark for the newly retired is too good to be true

NZ Herald May 23 2009

Q&A: Don't let international survey put you off investing in managed funds
Reader challenges comments about classic cars

NZ Herald January 31 2009

Q&As: Several options for 20-year-old who worries that the state of the world makes KiwiSaver iffy.
5 Q&As about reader who was offered a mortgage deal that was too good to be true.

NZ Herald January 24 2009

Q&As: Advisor's mortgage offer looks too magical to be true
Children more likely to be angry because their parents didn't sign them up to KiwiSaver than because they did
Too much on KiwiSaver in this column?

NZ Herald February 2 2008

Q&As: Does the share price slump disprove standard investment advice? And should advisers make economic forecasts?
KiwiSaver member is doing superbly despite the slump - as are all other members.
A reader objects to the idea that KiwiSaver is a gift from the government.

Holm Truths Winter 2007

A scheme for everyone: KiwiSaver is a good idea for every NZ resident under 65 - including self-employed, beneficiaries, adults not in the work force and children.
Also in this issue: From the mailbox - A financial planner offers some gems of wisdom, but I'm not totally convinced.

NZ Herald December 9 2006

Money column for December 9, 2006

Win a ticket to a seminar
Q&As: Should retired couple invest in a commercial property? Why take on that risk?
Can we predict NZ dollar movements?
When is it best to change money from US to NZ currency.
A US website that evaluates international charities.
Yet another charity offers a Christmas gift programme.

Syndicated column October 24 2006: Why some advisers don't recommend index funds

A while back I wrote that I still think index funds are the best way for most people to invest in shares, even though they are scheduled to lose their tax advantage next year. That has prompted an intriguing question from a reader:

"If index funds outperform all other forms of sharemarket investing over a long period of time (10 years?), then why do advisers recommend other forms? Is it simply due to their commission?"

NZ Herald October 7 2006

Q&As: Should you portfolio be regularly serviced? And how do you calculate the return on it?
How to work out which term deposit is better.
What's in a finance company name?

NZ Herald September 2 2006

Q&As: Some options for a whinging woman who can't afford a home.
Is wealthy couple wise to do it themselves when it comes to their investments?
Reader who dislikes "that word" boycotts Toyota.
Getting mean over medians and averages.

NZ Herald August 26 2006

Q&As: What you should check out before you buy a house. And who should do the inspection.
Some possible progress on the proposed changes to international investments tax.
Who's right and wrong in the maths on the new coins.
Financial adviser explains how "Jane", with her $1 million in term deposits, could save on fees.

NZ Herald August 19 2006

Q&As: The average New Zealander can't afford to buy a house, or can they? The poor don't stay poor.
How one man keeps his costs down.
Flaws with a tax parable? And a man living on $1,000 a year?
An investment adviser gives us inside info on commissions.

NZ Herald August 12 2006

Q&As: A few fewer luxuries and many New Zealanders could afford to buy homes.
2 Q&As on whether the Reserve Bank got it right with the new coins.
A financial planner objects to what I said last week about how to choose an adviser.

NZ Herald August 5 2006

Q&As: Typical but rich women ask how to find an adviser.
Does local government keep house prices up? And will they ever fall?
Let's not have the government meddling in the housing market.
Doing your homework doesn't necessarily help share investment.

NZ Herald July 15 2006

Q&As: Lessons from the Bible: Is borrowing bad?
Is luck or attitude the secret to wealth?
Sharebrokers shouldn't always be expected to give ongoing advice.

NZ Herald July 8 2006

Q&As: What to do about negligent adviser who recommended bad finance company investment.
Do high earners pay too much of the tax burden?
Parable about why the highest taxed get the biggest tax breaks.

Syndicated column July 26 2005: Keeping financial advisers on their toes - good for the rest of us

A warning to financial advisers: You'd better give good, unbiased advice to your next new client. And the one after that. And the one after that. You never know which one might be a "mystery shopper" working undercover.

If you do serve a mystery shopper, they will report on a website whether the advice you gave "is truly in the best interests of the individual client" - something that Joe and Joanne Blow often find hard to judge.

NZ Herald July 16 2005

Q&As: When to declare share trading profits.
What to do if travel agent charges more for using a credit card.
Different Visa rules in Australia, and how Visa operates.

Syndicated column July 12 2005: Complexity of financial products no accident

Confirmation, at last, of what we've suspected all along: Providers of financial products may deliberately make them sound complicated.