"As we discussed two weeks ago in our Investment Insight about Allbirds , we’re always looking for opportunities to buy shares in innovative companies at the IPO stage. This is why we’ve just invested in Iris Energy’s IPO on the NASDAQ. Iris Energy is a Bitcoin mining company with a difference: it uses only renewable energy to power its mining operations. "The total size of the Bitcoin mining industry in 2021 is estimated to be US$16bn, with significant scope for growth in the coming years. Iris Energy represents an important and necessary step forward for this industry: a future where crypto mining operations can make a meaningful difference to carbon emissions and to the communities they operate in..." Read more about Bitcoin's energy consumption and the investment case for Iris Energy below.

I wonder where we would be without acronyms; probably using more ink but perhaps better informed. The acronym of the moment has been, of course, COP26 – the trendy acronym for the United Nations (UN) climate change conference, recently held in Glasgow. It was the 26th annual UN 'Conference of Parties' which began in Berlin in 1995. In simple terms. the purpose of the series of conferences has been to collectively agree on the actions required to limit the impact of climate change. Cynics have suggested that the empty promises resulting from past conferences have exacerbated, rather than reduced, the 'hot air' problem. However, in the wake of the global and existential threat that is COVID-19, the global community is awakening to the reality that a collective response is the only way to deal with a truly global threat. Retreating to 'your corner' when you live on a sphere doesn't really work! The Glasgow conference set a number of objectives, but it i...

"At NZ Funds, we have a modern, diversified approach to investing. Diversification is one of the key tenets of finance. It improves risk-adjusted returns over time and is often referred to as the only ‘free lunch’ in financial markets. Put differently, the inability to diversify leads to inferior risk-adjusted returns. "We take this approach so we can find long-term growth for our clients, wherever it may be in financial markets. But it is also about preserving as much of our clients’ capital as possible, especially when markets in traditional asset classes go through big cyclical shifts. This is exactly what we’re currently witnessing in global bond markets with the rise in interest rates and inflation. We use futures contracts to manage this shift..." Read the full story about why bond markets are falling and are expected to fall further below.

"At NZ Funds, we’re constantly looking for innovative companies to invest in, particularly at the IPO (Initial Public Offering) stage. Investing at the 'ground floor' level gives our clients the greatest chance of benefiting from long-term growth in company share prices. It’s rare to be presented with the opportunity to back a new NASDAQ listing that also has strong New Zealand connections. This is one of the reasons we were delighted to make a successful bid for shares in Allbirds (NASDAQ: BIRD), which has grown from a Kickstarter campaign by its Kiwi cofounder to a global footwear and apparel company with a US$3.1 billion market capitalisation..." Read the full story about NZ Funds' IPO investment in Allbirds below.

In the first Investment Insight of each month, we will look back at the key themes and trends for the previous month; and forward, setting out our views on what will affect client performance in the months to come. Persistent supply chain constraints are weighing on the path of the recovery and feeding fears of longer lasting inflationary pressures. However, the growth outlook remains firmly underpinned by huge levels of pent-up demand, solid corporate balance sheets and robust investment intentions. Meanwhile, income assets and property are under pressure from rising interest rates. Those who cannot manage duration risk are already suffering large negative returns in their income assets. October was a tale of two halves, but we retain our conviction as we fast approach the end of 2021. Interest Rates October proved to be an eventful four weeks for interest rates. Markets have been wary of the spectre of rising inflation for some time. However, a ru...

NZ Funds was the first fund manager to add crypto to KiwiSaver. On 8 September 2021, Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Select Committee heard evidence as part of their inquiry into the current and future nature, impact, and risks of cryptocurrencies. CEO Michael Lang presented the business case for including cryptocurrencies as part of a well diversified investment portfolio. The document accompanying NZ Funds’ submission can be read  here . Watch the full video of the Select Committee session  here . Alternatively, please read NZ Funds' full Submission to the Finance and Expenditure Committee below.

The Polar Vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air around the Earth's North Pole. It's a long-documented weather pattern that typically goes unnoticed by those of us not living in the Arctic Circle, except for when occasionally the air pressure and winds shift. In this Investment Insight, we talk weather. We discuss why climate change induced weather events are having a direct impact on increasing energy costs. Finally, we explain how weather will influence the returns generated by positions we hold in natural gas and heating oil. What is a Polar Vortex event? When stable, the Polar Vortex remains closer to the North Pole, constrained by a strong polar jet stream which keeps the cold air from moving into the mid-latitude continents below i.e., Europe, United States, China (the 'Continents'). The polar jet stream is sustained by a temperature difference between the Continents and the polar region. When the temperature difference across the j...