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A Golden Era of Health Care Innovation

This article is adapted from information provided by Capital Group.Capital considers that biopharma is in the midst of a 'third wave' of innovation.  Referring the picture above, the first two waves were:1.. Chemistry - simple compounds created in labs - that could address everyday sicknesses and illnesses.2. Biotech - moving from largely inorganic to organic chemistry - molecular biology.  this created therapies that are more effective and less toxic, due to their targeted effect on t...

Teeth, Eyes, Ears, Over the Counter Medication, Fitness

As we live longer, and the baby boomers have more wealth, people are shifting their focus to quality of life (particularly in richer economies).  McKinsey estimates that more than US$450 billion was spend on products and services that support nutrition, hygiene and fitness in the USA alone in 2022 (and that is growing by more than 5% annually).Thanks to Impax for the material for this blog post.There are three main categories:1.    Personal care solutions for teeth, eyes and ...

Investor Warning - online 'educational' courses - from FMA

The FMA (FInancial Markets Authority) has issued an investor warning about online 'educational' courses which promise to teach people how to make money trading in crypto, shares, foreign exchange or property.Some are fronts for scams, with victims thinking they're learning how to trade, but are manipulated into putting real money into fake trading platforms.Be extra cautious before sending money - you may even be shown fake returns but can't withdraw it without paying more. Even if you pay the e...

Winner- Best Ethical Financial Adviser 2024

Following on from our award in 2023, Moneyworks have again received the award as the Best Ethical Financial Adviser in 2024.  As Peter and Carey were in Finland, we were proud that Paul was able to represent us (including with a great thank you speech).The judges commented:The entry showed a depth of understanding of ethical and impact investing products. The judges recognised that Moneyworks is thorough and comprehensive in portfolio construction, with innovative use of technology. The foc...

Power Exercises - How to keep fit, strong and youthful

Ten years ago, when turning 50, I realised that it was important that I had strength, flexibility and good balance as I got older.  All things that vanish if you don't work on them.  In addition to my twice weekly strength training, I have added in a weekly yoga class, which on top of my walking and cycling have kept me strong.As I have now entered my next decade, keeping strong, flexible and having good balance is becoming more important.  I want to be able to lift things without...

Climate Change - Adaptation Investments

Climate Change – Adaptation investments(Thanks to Pengana WHEB for this source material)2023 was the warmest year on record by a large margin. And Munich RE (a reinsurance firm), estimates that natural disasters caused $250 billion in financial losses in 2023 alone and over 74,000 lives were lost.We keep hearing rhetoric about how we have to reduce emissions, but that very few of the large emitters actually want to put their hand up and change.This means that the world will keep getting hotter...

Is rugby going to vanish as our national sport? Changing demographics of New Zealand

Over the last 9 months, we have been lucky enough to attend two presentations by Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley about the changing demographics in New Zealand. The information is so fascinating, that twice was not even enough, we could listen to him again and again, and the Q&A’s at the end of his talks were even more interesting.  We strongly recommend that you attend a presentation of his if you ever get the opportunity. We have provided a download link of ...

Why you need a will

Having a will is something that you do for the people that you love.If you don’t love anyone – then you can live without having a will.But if you do love people, having a will is a kindness for them.  The aim of your will is to express your wishes about what should happen to your body, your estate and any dependents after you die.In the movies and TV shows, the reading of a deceased persons will is regularly depicted as a big event – held in a lawyers office – with suspense and some...

What happens when a loved one dies

I am lucky.  I haven’t had to deal with the death of any of my immediate family members.  But I have recently been privileged to assist the family of one of my long term clients to manage the administration of her estate.It has been an eye opening experience for me about how administrative the process is, how time consuming and how much Anti Money Laundering protocols have to be provided (each time an asset has to be dealt with – KiwiSaver, house, dealing with the lawyer, all four ...

2024 Budget and implications for your financial planning

As promised in the 2023 Election Campaign, the coalition Government has delivered tax cuts.  These tax cuts will apply to everyone and it is IMPORTANT TO NOTE that these will also apply to your PIR (Prescribed Investor Rate) for your PIE (Portfolio Investment Entity) investments (eg in your portfolio and KiwiSaver, and if you have a PIE Cash or Term Deposit investment with your bank.  See the note below about what you will need to do if it affects you.The tax changes are as a result of...

What if things go wrong with someone’s will and it is challenged?

Apart from potentially creating a juicy story for the media, if a will isn’t prepared well, or if someone doesn’t have a will in place (dying intestate – see this article), the death of a person can cause a lot of angst and stress for loved ones.In the 6 years to start of 2024, there were nearly 16,000 applications for probate (if an estate is worth less than $15,000 it doesn’t require an application for probate), there were 352 disputes to the will that arose in either the Family Court ...

Millie is not AI

Moneyworks clients will know who Millie is.  Or rather what she is.Since 2018, we have worked with our Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Developer, Saravanan (who lives in Chennai with his wife and two young children) to build Millie – our in-house robot.Over the last five and half years, we have automated pretty much everything we can automate in our business (but I keep saying that and I keep finding things to automate -but surely the process we are starting in March is our last one!).Th...

Who is Nvidia?

During 2023 - the stocks that led the markets and the recovery were 'The Magnificent Seven'.  Their share values took off, while many other shares languished until around the start of November 2023. The Magnificent Seven are Apple, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla.  You are most likely familiar with the products of the six consumer brands, but who is Nvidia and why is it important?A number of your fund managers are invested in Nvidia and the ...

AI and the transition to a sustainable economy

One of our fund managers, Impax produces an excellent document at the start of each year outlining the themes that they feel are important for the next investing period (1-10 years).  Impax are a fund manager focusing on sustainable investment, so there is a strong bias in their themes to sustainability.Here are their themes for the 2024 report:1.    The transition to a more sustainable economy won’t be derailed2.    Political tensions create selective opport...

Artificial Intelligence and your investments

There are a few topics that are highlighted as being ‘leading themes’ for investments over the next five to ten years, including renewable energy and artificial intelligence.Artificial Intelligence is seen as the next big technological leap that will change our world and provides huge opportunities for many companies that you may be invested in (as well as some risks.)We have had a lot of information from our fund managers recently about AI, so thought this was a good opportunity to share th...

Do you use your personal vehicle for business use? It might not be insured…

At Moneyworks, we all own our own vehicles and when we use them for work, we get reimbursed by the company at the IRD rate of mileage.  It is a system that has worked well for us.  We didn’t think twice about it until we read a case note from the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman, where we learned that our vehicles may not be insured if we use them for business use and they are insured for personal use.In this situation the insured had claimed for compensation for the delay ...

Cyclone Gabrielle: Insurance pays out flood-affected family, but their bank won’t release the funds.

This situation is complicated, another Free-To-Read NZ Herald article https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/cyclone-gabrielle-insurance-pays-out-flood-affected-family-but-their-bank-wont-release-the-funds/SLXXPI54KFGO5LSQZWRL36CIZQ/, but it is important to understand the principles.This is about a couple who were hit hard by the Cyclone and claimed on their insurance to rebuild a variety of dwellings and sheds on their own property, as well as purchasing a neighbouring property to ren...

CCTV and Privacy and Insurance

You may know the feeling - you get back to your pristine car in the supermarket carpark to find a ding in it that wasn’t there before.  There is no note, no indication of who dented it. If the damage is bad enough, you may want to get the CCTV footage of the carpark to see who damaged the vehicle, to assist with getting your excess on your insurance policy waived.Unfortunately, under the privacy laws in New Zealand, this is unlikely to happen.  This free to read article in the NZ Her...

New Zealand Superannuation Rates

When you reach 65 in New Zealand (the current age of eligibility) you are entitled to receive the New Zealand Superannuation income.  This is subject to residence requirements: Currently, to get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension, you must have lived in NZ for at least 10 years since you turned 20. The 10 or more years must include 5 years since you turned 50.The rate at which New Zealand Superannuation is paid changed on the 1st April each year.  This is broadly linked to the increase...

Why you should never retire….

The first article we received was in The Economist on 25th Jan 2024.  If you have an account with the Economist (you can get a free account where you can read a handful of articles each month), you will be able to read this article here https://www.economist.com/business/2024/01/25/why-you-should-never-retireThe article points out that Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (the investing guru team at Berkshire Hathaway) haven’t retired.  Warren Buffett is currently aged 93 and Charlie Mu...

You shouldn’t retire…. My thoughts

I don’t know if it is because Peter and I each have significant birthdays coming up this year, but I feel like I am being bombarded with articles in different media saying ‘don’t retire’.This is an interesting topic and we have talked with our clients about it for over a quarter of a century.  While working provides you with an income (to save and invest so that you can retire), it also provides you with a big part of your identity and ‘value’.  For many people working can ...

What are you going to do in retirement? How long will that be satisfying?

When we are working with our clients to discuss their retirement planning, a key part of our discussion is ensuring that our clients have planned what they are going to do in retirement.What are you going to do to feel useful? How are you going to replace the meetings, deadlines, and buzz of being part of the action? The boxes to tick for aging well are health, novelty, community and purpose.Look after grand-children?  It that is an option (if you have grand-children, if they don’t live o...

Human Skin - created as an alternative to Animal Testing

Just because a company is tagged as a ‘nasty’ for animal testing, does not necessarily mean that they are doing bad in this area.  A number of the companies are actually involved in a lot of research and development into alternatives to animal testing, and are regularly only carrying out animal testing when required to pay for it to allow distribution of their products in China.One of the companies in our clients portfolio’s (through Capital New Perspective Fund and Booster Socially R...

What does the weather and natural hazards mean for your house insurance premiums?

Cyclones, Floods, Heatwaves, Fires, Droughts.  These are all the side effects of the global climate changes.  We have seen the first three in New Zealand during 2023, but we have also seen the other two in different years.The health hazards from the smoke from fires, and the destitution from droughts hit people all over the world, as do floods and temperatures for days in the range of 40° to 50°.But floods, cyclones and the rising sea levels (as more polar ice melts each year) may di...

Is your jewellery (and valuable art) insurance worthwhile?

As we get older and more wealthy, we tend to increase our spending in line with our higher income.  For some people this may include buying more expensive jewellery or items of art that are quite valuable.  While these give you pleasure, it is vital that you make sure that your house and contents insurance cover gives you the protection that you are anticipating.We personally use an insurance broker in this area (as it is quite technical and we aren’t knowledgeable in this field) to ...