Why asset allocation and advice beat everything else. Financial advice is much like other professional services; if clients put their mind to it they could probably do most of it themselves. Little of it is rocket science. But just as we don’t want to spend our weekend doing the family’s tax returns, writing a will or establishing a trust, an increasing number of New Zealanders are embracing the use of a financial adviser to ensure they get the basics right. So, if you have decided to make a living advising others what to do with their money, you will want to know the best way to grow your clients’ wealth, and then recommend that to as many clients as possible. The good news is, in our view, the formula for success as a financial adviser is surprisingly simple. What is also surprisingly simple is that experts around the world from Buffett to Bogle agree that it has little to do with active or passive, global or local, choice of manager or how much they charge; and ...

It was back in September that I started this column series to identify the behaviours of financially successful people. I started with those clients in their twenties and then moved through the subsequent decades considering the various 'markers' at each point. If we assume that you have now made it to age 65, then you are entering what I term the active post paid work phase. You will notice that I have avoided the use of the 'r' word. Today the concept of a traditional retirement, complete with a gold watch, is largely a thing of the past. I now more often see a phased transition from full time employment to an active retirement which includes a mix of paid and voluntary work.  This phased transition from full employment to full retirement allows for both economic and emotional adjustment. This is a time when the habits and behaviours previously established (both money and health) either start to pay 'dividends' or the reality that we have not do...

Mid-January 2019. This is the latest date announced for when the UK Parliament will vote to approve (or not) the Brexit agreement already agreed between the UK Government and the European Union (EU) leaders on November 25. This vote will occur after Parliament has debated the government motion to approve the EU withdrawal agreement and accompanying political declaration. This delay was after it became clear that, based on stated views of many Government MPs, there seemed minimal likelihood the motion would be approved With a ‘no deal Brexit’ a clear possibility (and using British historical analogies) the key question in my mind is; ‘Will Brexit be akin to the evacuation from Dunkirk – a triumph in the midst of a dramatic defeat that ensured Britain could fight on, or will it be like the fall of Singapore - a calamitous disaster that had an irreversible and materially negative impact on the British Empire?’ On November 29 the Bank of England (BOE) Governor Mark Carne...

It is difficult to avoid the commercialisation of a modern Christmas. There are of course many positive aspects to Christmas; for those with Christian beliefs the fundamental “reason for the season” is reason enough.   For those whose beliefs might be different, the tradition of gift giving provides the opportunity to think of others and what they might value.    For one of our family, who is about to embark on travel in South America, we thought that a book by Chris Ryan titled “How to stay safe in a dangerous world” would be appropriate. When traveling, Ryan advocates remaining vigilant about your surroundings and aware of possible threats. Most importantly he encourages his readers to develop strategies to deal with the unexpected. He also notes that sometimes the safest course of action can feel counterintuitive. Much of his advice seems common sense, but I guess the interesting thing about common sense is that sometimes it only appears “common” in retrospe...