Investing 3

Low cost index investing under fire: what the criticisms get right, and where they fall apart

Low cost index investing under fire: what the criticisms get right, and where they fall apart

In the past week, two people employed by New Zealand active fund managers have published pieces arguing that the SPIVA scorecard (the research S&P Dow Jones Indices has produced since 2002 comparing active funds against market indices) makes active management look worse than it is. You can find the Aurellan article here and the NZ Herald article here.

They are not entirely wrong. That's worth saying clearly before I say anything else, because parts of both arguments are good and the passive case doesn't need to pretend otherwise […..]

Investors who stayed the course in 2025 were handsomely rewarded

Investors who stayed the course in 2025 were handsomely rewarded

Another year done and dusted, and another year full of financial commentary and dire predictions.

In the first part of the year all the talk was around Trump’s tariffs. The common consensus was it would crush companies, consumers, and the share market in general. The common consensus was for a recession. Then mid year the Israel-Iran war got going, leading to further calls of an economic recession. 

All the […..]

Sharesies pricing structure still doesn't benefit the everyday investor

Sharesies pricing structure still doesn't benefit the everyday investor

Sharesies did a PR piece recently stating that their investment platform now has more than 1,500 portfolios with over $1 million invested per portfolio.

To the untrained eye it may appear that Sharesies customers are doing really well and have a lot invested. But right off the bat I can see that 1,500 customers with over $1 million invested each only […..]

After tax difference in returns using FDR tax vs FDR and CV alternating

After tax difference in returns using FDR tax vs FDR and CV alternating

Today we are delving deeper into the international non PIE funds. Because it is possible to alternate the method of calculating tax between FDR and CV method. This flexibility provides great benefit to the international investor during years where returns are less than 5%.

We are going to explore if that is enough benefit to close the gap between PIE and non PIE funds […..]

After tax difference in returns between an international PIE fund and a non PIE (FIF) fund)

After tax difference in returns between an international PIE fund and a non PIE (FIF) fund)

Today I thought I would run another comparison to see how much of a head start one form of investing provides over another. Investing in an international PIE fund vs investing in an international non PIE (FIF) fund.

Using the same 21 period of returns from January 2004 to January 2025, the US500 produced annualised returns (including dividends) of 10.38%.

Below are the 21 year results of the after tax returns at different tax rates for both a PIE fund and a non PIE fund […..]

Which Sharesies pricing plan is best for me?

Which Sharesies pricing plan is best for me?

So you’ve decided you want to invest in ETF’s or shares, and are interested in using Sharesies. But then you get presented with four pricing plans. It is a bit of a challenge to calculate how much you will pay in transaction fees when you are originally investing in New Zealand dollars, charged in international dollars, and paying fees in New Zealand dollars.

Thankfully I have done the automation for you […..]

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