Managed Funds

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 August 16 2008

Q&As: Advice on investment during retirement has worked for these readers
KiwiSaver contributions holidays will be easy to take
Reader dislikes last week's answer on KiwiSaver fund performance

NZ Herald August 9 2008

Q&As: Reader wants a list showing how KiwiSaver funds have performed, but I won't oblige.
Why farmers mingle their work and personal expenses.
More reasons why taxing families as one unit might harm more than it helps.

NZ Herald December 8 2007

Q&As: Why 20 shares are much better than two.
Reader claims diversification is not a great idea. I disagree.
Is land a lower risk investment than a share fund?

NZ Herald September 22 2007

Q&As: KiwiSaver totals over the years should be adjusted for inflation - but let's not get carried away.
People receiving ACC payments or Paid Parental Leave have a choice in KiwiSaver.
Early retirement plans won't be harmed by membership in KiwiSaver.

NZ Herald September 2007

Q&As: Should a couple with 3 children move to a bigger house in town or take a bet on a coastal property?
Are KiwiSaver bond funds as conservative as they seem?

NZ Herald July 28 2007

Q&As: KiwiSaver providers that are offering ethical investment funds.
More on ethical KiwiSaver funds.
Will the KiwiSaver kick-start be around for a while?
Could the government take KiwiSaver money to repay student loans?
Oops! Too much haste.
Sack adviser who recently recommended Bridgecorp.

NZ Herald January 27 2007

Q&As: Unclaimed money may be yours!
Options for couple retiring with $200,000 and no house.
More on the index/active share fund debate - the theory and how it works in NZ

NZ Herald January 20 2007

Q&As: Are index funds, which I recommend, inferior share fund investments, as Herald columnist Brian Gaynor claims?
A small New Zealand town has it all, a resident claims!

NZ Herald January 13 2007

Q&As: Options for a newly retired couple with $200,000 and no home include part-time work, buying a home with a flat attached, an interest-only mortgage and equity release.
Two Q&As on which investments are affected by the new tax law on international shares, and how it will work for investors.

Syndicated column November 21 2006: Look beyond the dividends

In share fund investing, keep your eye on the prize - the over-all return, not just the fees and dividends.

Syndicated column November 7 2006: An exceptionally unlucky reader

International index funds, a favourite long-term investment of mine, don't look good to one reader.

"I bought about $2000 worth of WiNZ in 2000," he writes. "They are now 27 per cent lower (have been for quite a while). Fortunately for me it was not a huge amount.

"Twenty years is a long time to wait for the fund to claw its way back up. Hopefully all the investors in index funds can wait that long!"

NZ Herald October 28 2006

Q&As: A reader finds a flaw in my "avoid the rear-view mirror" argument. Or does he?

Would NZ's tax revenue actually increase if we all invested offshore?
Inland Revenue says it can't fix everything at once.

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 21 2006

Q&As: Is there an 18-year cycle for industrial and resource shares?
Why index fund of Aussie shares has done much worse than its index.
Limited submissions on tax changes not good enough.
NZ shares, already favoured, shouldn't get still more favourable tax treatment.

NZ Herald October 14 2006

Q&As: Why I won't do research on an Aussie resource index fund.
Too little time to study the new tax plans for international share investments.

NZ Herald July 22 2006

Q&As: 2 on whether preparation and research plays a part in "luck".
Winning entries in competition to win a copy of "Get Rich Slow".

NZ Herald February 25 2006

Q&As: Is compounding interest over-rated?
Credit cards v eftpos.
How long is long-term? Returns on different assets.

NZ Herald January 21 2006

Q&As: Shares v term deposits - it depends how much time you have.
Short-of-cash millionaires should try to renegotiate their mortgage.
When is a 2% penalty not 2%?

NZ Herald November 19 2005

Q&As: How well do share funds perform?
Comparison of investment performances.

Syndicated column September 6 2005: Share pickers respond to my doubts

Even as I typed it, I thought a certain sentence in my last column was bound to cause trouble.

"Lots of research," I wrote, "shows that an individual investor who researches companies doesn't tend to do any better than someone who chooses shares at random."

Sure enough, a man who describes himself as "a paid-up member of the share pickers guild" emailed me.

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.

Syndicated column May 3 2005: Index funds still the best, despite tax changes

An ice cream is still delicious without the chocolate dip. The same goes for index share funds.

Since they made an appearance in New Zealand in the late 1990s, these funds have had a tax advantage over the other type of share funds, called active funds.

It seems likely that the tax advantage will be removed soon. But even if it goes, I still think index funds are best.

Holm Truths summer 02-03

Lessons from past mislead: Investing in what did well last year, or selling what did badly, usually does more harm than good

Also in this issue: Great Debate - Low v high insurance excesses

Holm Truths winter 01

Free lunch a rewarding spread: It's wise to spread your investment money around

Also in this issue: Great Debate - Shares v share funds

Holm Truths autumn 01

Terms of enrichment: How long you want to tie up your money affects what you invest in.

Also in this issue: Great Debate - Shares v rental property