Building wealth starts with a Kernel / Dean Anderson
Building wealth starts with a Kernel – Dean Anderson, founder of Kernel Wealth joins me to discuss the merits of investing through a long term lens.
Kernel, a new digital platform that provides low-cost access to investments for everyday Kiwi’s.
Dean Anderson is the founder and CEO of one of the newest online digital investment platforms now available in New Zealand – Kernel.
Here are some points from this episode worth noting:
Advice on product or advice on strategy? Reflecting on the rise of digital advice platforms, I’m struck with an emerging paradox: Digital ultimately seeks to mimic the human adviser / human advisers seek to mimic a digital experience. Are these two forces destined to dance around each other in perpetuity, or at some stage, will there be a meaningful merger of machine and human? Human financial advisers potentially still have an edge – Creativity. Trusted and true financial advisers are creative consultants. Digital advice platforms (and Kernel is one of them) that allow for the new breed (yet to truly emerge in my opinion) of financial advisers will succeed, if the integration of human and machine is done thoughtfully and at the right pace from the consumers perspective.
Keen to invest in New Zealand Commercial property? Direct commercial property investment has its place, but it is rather hungry in the area of equity required to get off the ground. If you’re an everyday Kiwi who’s looking to gain some exposure to commercial real estate, then Kernel has a fund that tracks the performance of 8 commercial property funds in NZ. Low fees, low initial upfront investment – simple.
Investing vs trading. I think a lot of investors, especially outside of property, come to the party expecting and exciting, dynamic, and labour-intensive journey. In reality, that’s what trading is – high risk, high transaction costs, and inevitably a high likelihood that you’ll converge to the average over time regardless. Why bother? Investing is different – it’s a long term move in a positive direction, which counter-intuitively does not actually require a lot of work and as a result, shouldn’t be that expensive either.
Check out what Kernel Wealth is all about here: https://kernelwealth.co.nz/.
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Coaching at the Top: On The Tee Golf NZ Podcast 13
Hosts Brendan and Tom talk with Marcus Wheelhouse, a former Number One amateur in the world and twice the winner of the New Zealand Stroke Paly Championship. After turning professional Marcus played in Europe, the United States and elsewhere in the world. Today, he is one of the country’s leading golf coaches, working out of JK’s World of Golf, and is best known worldwide as the coach of Ryan Fox, New Zealand’s Number One professional currently playing on the European PGA circuit. What’s life like for a top golf coach? Tune in to find out.
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What on Earth Happened in the Local Body Elections?
In this episode, Act Leader David Seymour is joined by Stephen Berry to discuss what on earth happened in the local body elections. Stephen Berry ran a very popular guide to the Auckland local body elections this year and will give us his analysis of last weekend’s results.
Listen now, or Subscribe free:
ACT New Zealand
Politics in Full Sentences – Podcasts NZ
School of Practical Politics
OMGold! Rich Elliot and Alisson Oliveira
Rich Elliot and Alisson Oliveira work for a company called MyGold – they’re gold dealers.
Owning physical gold is not something that is normally recommended in the mainstream world. From an educational point of view, you may have done a degree in finance but the merits of owning physical gold are perhaps still a mystery to you – it certainly was for me. This is one of the great mysteries of building wealth. Why are some of the potentially more effective ways to build and store wealth, kept secret from the majority of people?!
Here are a few thoughts on this episode…
Is Gold a ‘hedge’?
Life insurance is a hedge. Bad stuff happens, and your family receives a lump sum of cash to offset some of the negative impacts associated with loss of life.
If you had a % of your wealth tied up in gold, would the value of this investment increase to a point where it’s effective in offsetting some of the losses held elsewhere? Sort of is the answer here. Significant increases in the value of gold occurred around the major negative economic events of 1929-33, 1969-70, 2001 and more recently this year where we’ve observed a 20-25% increase already.
Not everyone agrees that gold can be an effective hedge however, and this article contains a perspective to the contrary. Another slightly controversial take is the #dropgold campaign launched by some rather keen crypto-enthusiasts.
With what I’ve learnt over the last 6 months about gold, I’d suggest that gold will indeed shine in the next recession, but not all that shines is in fact gold.
Financial-ised gold vs Physical gold?
You can benefit from the price movement of gold and not actually have to physically hold it. If you come from a traditional paradigm where you view the amount of wealth you own in terms of currency (say, USD), holding an ETF in say GLD, may be an option to consider. Craig’s Investment Partners have a DIY KiwiSaver option where you can own this ETF in GLD for your KiwiSaver.
A purist ‘gold-bug’ however, would always prefer to hold the physical element in their hot little hands (or white gloves). Why? It seems the main reason physical is preferred over the financial, is that if you truly buy into owning gold, chances are you have a higher than average distrust for the current financial system. It makes sense when you think it through – if there was a catastrophe, you’d want to convert your contract to the physical as soon as you can. When you dig a little deeper however you learn that many of these ‘paper’ assets are in fact derivatives. They work to a point, but in an extreme situation (financial Armageddon) when everyone’s running to the vault, there’s no gold to be found. (If this area is of interest, search ‘gold market manipulation’)
It’s really easy to get lost in the weeds with this topic though (and quite fun just quietly) – I do believe however, that if you’re into building and storing wealth, this should be one of the foundations to understand first before moving forward much further.
There’s a good book I thoroughly recommend in fact, called ‘The Death of Money’ by James Rickards. Check out a wee sample of it here, but I’d really recommend this book if you want to understand how central banks work in greater detail and how gold worked(s) in the past/present/future. I’d suggest it’s written an a more ‘intermediate’ level so if that’s too technical, check out YouTube for Mike Maloney or Peter Schiff to get started.
So, how does owning physical gold help you, the everyday investor?
Based on my current understanding (keep in mind I’m still learning too!), owning physical gold should not really be a means to an end, but it could be an end unto itself.
Building wealth occurs in the plane of the present financial/monetary system, an interweb of various players operating with varying degrees of information (ie – not a level playing field). Gold and Bitcoin are anathematic to the status quo.
I love talking about anything that can help the everyday Kiwi build and store wealth. The decentralised (be your own bank) aspect of physical gold and Bitcoin appeal to me as it puts the power in the hand of the investor, not the system.
It appears to me right now, that ‘using’ the current system to generate ‘fiat’ money (currency sponsored by our central bank) is the best way to go. After all, the majority of market participants have faith that currency is money – so while that faith is strong, carry on. Nothing to see here.
What seems wise to me however, is to translate some level of wealth from fiat currency to physical gold (or Bitcoin!) if possible (that’s not advice, that’s just me sharing what I’m thinking remember!). My traditional portfolio is the engine, but the receptacle could be physical gold (a more timeless store of wealth).
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If you want to be notified of the special offers that MyGold has, be sure to subscribe to their newsletter here.
Hope you enjoyed this episode – thank you to MyGold for their support in making this episode possible.
Do identity politics threaten to silence feminism?
Politics in Full Sentences ACT Leader David Seymour is joined by Speak Up For Women spokesperson Ani O’Brien.
Massey University is standing up to backlash in the name of free speech to allow controversial Canadian feminists to speak on campus. In 2019, how did feminists become controversial and who’s doing the protesting?
Last year in the UK, feminist academics received threats of abuse from students and fellow academics, threats of being barred from campuses and talks cancelled. Lecturers are silencing their own opinions in fear of losing employment. What happened to academic freedom and civil debate and could the same thing happen here?
In fear of offending, are our own media at risk of silencing views?
Listen now, or Subscribe free:
ACT New Zealand
Politics in Full Sentences – Podcasts NZ
School of Practical Politics
Going for Green, Getting the Rainbow / Leeanna Kohn-Hardy
Going for Green, Getting the Rainbow! Is it possible when investing, to have your cake and eat it too?
When aiming for the green, the Benjamin’s, alpha, ROI etc., there’s so much more you could be achieving.
Do you care about the environment? Sure, we all do right – how far would you be willing to (beyond purchasing compostable plastic bags?). How much of a premium would you pay in your world in order to protect it for you and kids?
Do you care about society? How do you feel about the slave-trade, child labour, pay-gaps? What would you be willing to do to play your part in reducing this?
Do you care about good governance? How much research are you willing to undertake on a firm on their governance structure before you make an investment?
It’s all fine and dandy to say you care about something – often it’s a bit trickier to do something about it, especially when it costs more to do it..Particularly when no-one knows you’re doing it.
Leeanna Kohn-Hardy, founder of Finappster ( a start-up that makes it easy for you to understand how socially responsible your investments are) joins me in the studio for this latest episode.
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The State of NZ Golf: On The Tee Golf NZ Podcast 12
What’s going on in New Zealand golf? How are clubs managing to stay viable in a climate of dwindling memberships and an aging population when younger people are less likely that ever to take of up the sport? What is NZ Golf, as the leading administrative body, doing to promote the game and help struggling clubs find a way to survive? Hosts Brendan and Tom talk with NZ Golf CEO Dean Murphy about those pressing issues and more.
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Are Universities Finally Standing Up for Free Speech?
In this episode of Politics in Full Sentences, ACT Leader David Seymour is joined by Employment Law Expert Mac Whitehead. Massey University is allowing controversial feminists to speak on campus, and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Auckland has defended the right for objectionable material to be displayed on campus. Are Universities finally standing up for free speech? This NZ First Minister Shane Jones was caught soliciting votes in exchange for Provincial Growth Fund Money. Was the Minister speaking out of turn or is the policy something more sinister? Finally, the National Party want to tax parents. What’s up with that?
Listen now, or Subscribe free:
Freedom to Speak – ACT’s campaign for Freedom of Expression:
Free Speech
ACT New Zealand
Politics in Full Sentences – Podcasts NZ
School of Practical Politics
What is Invest Now?
What’s the problem? For the self-directed investor, there’s a bit of work to do in order to access and manage your investments. Accounts with various banks, potentially a share-trading account, a couple of online platforms perhaps. Different credentials to recall and most annoying, AML/ CFT (compliance / ID checks) process to go through each time.
What’s Invest Now? It’s a simple and affordable way to access multiple investment options in one place.
Mike Heath joins me on a discussion that we had when I went down to Wellington recently, via Christchurch (no, it’s not on the way).
These online investment platforms are popping up everywhere it seems – they all work a little different to each other and they serve a different community of DIY investors out there. I’m learning about them at the moment so hopefully, this is of interest to you also:
Here are some key ‘light-bulb’ moments covered in this episode:
- Often people may be afraid to seek financial advice as they believe they’re not smart enough to do so. Seems counter-intuitive, but it does make sense. The reason we need advice is that we don’t have all the answers, but often pride can act as our own worst enemy here. We hate to admit it when we don’t have the answer.
- The bulk of New Zealanders are un-served by financial advisers – online platforms like Invest Now provide a very inoffensive and un-daunting access point for many who may be afraid to engage in a face to face encounter with a financial adviser. If there’s a need and desire to use an adviser, however, the Invest Now platform can actually now accommodate that too.
- Mainstream media. Often credibility is bestowed upon advertisers – this is crazy but just because a finance firm during the finance company collapse a decade ago advertised in the Herald, doesn’t mean the trust placed in them was justified. Mainstream media can be an excellent platform to increase financial literacy – but this doesn’t always occur.
- Whether it’s an online investment platform, KiwiSaver, or another investment product you access through an adviser, often a ‘custodian’ is used. In this episode, Mike covers how platforms, custodians, fund managers and investments all work together.
- What’s an ETF, a mutual fund, or an index fund?
- Self-employed people often don’t have KiwiSaver but they should. Beyond getting the tax credit however, online platforms like Invest Now offer another alternative way to simulate what’s in a KiwiSaver fund.
It’s great to see online investment platforms grow in popularity – There will likely be much innovation happening in digital advice and robo-advice space in the coming years. Will financial advisers be made redundant as this trend roles on? No, but I do think the role of an adviser needs to change dramatically. Removing friction is what these platforms do well, but the easier it is to get in, the easier it is to get out of investments also – perhaps the biggest strength is also their biggest weakness – enter the new breed of financial advisers.
Is banning flavoured vape nuts?
In this episode, Jonathan, co-founder of VAPO and Alt NZ (with Ben Pryor), is joined by Act Party Deputy Leader Beth Houlbrooke and Employment Law Expert Max Whitehead. They talk about how the Government has signalled new regulations could be on their way to limit the flavours of vapes and e-cigarettes. Are these regulations necessary? Would they hinder smokers switching to a healthier alternative? Is vaping even the healthier alternative? What regulations, if any, would our panel support and what effect would they have on the economy?
Listen now, or Subscribe free:
Freedom to Speak – ACT’s campaign for Freedom of Expression:
Free Speech
ACT New Zealand
Politics in Full Sentences – Podcasts NZ
School of Practical Politics
Co-ops and Kiwi banks / David Cunningham
Co-ops and Kiwi banks – how can a co-operative banking structure create more wealth for the everyday Kiwi?
David Cunningham, CEO of The Cooperative Bank is on the NZ Everyday Investor today to discuss:
- How do cooperatives work, especially in the banking world?
- The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Banking Misconduct.
- Capital Reserve requirements (what is it and why do banks care)?
- The role technology plays in transforming a relatively ‘old school’ sector.
The Co-operative Bank has a few unique points of difference – for example:
– When you join, you’re a shareholder, and you get a share of their profits (directly).
-Kids, when you open an account for them, earn 4% (not up to 4% under rare circumstances) up to balances of $4k.
– Fair Rate Credit Card
Check out some of their Youtube videos here:
https://youtu.be/wT9UwD6vOBs – youth savings
https://youtu.be/aaVYr0376VY – rebates
https://youtu.be/oR_CWq2K1lM – Fair Rate Credit Card
Western values and institutions are being undermined: what effect is this having on the mental wellbeing of individuals?
Ruwan, David and Stephen Rainbow discuss the undermining of Western values and institutions, and what effect this is having on the mental wellbeing of individuals. Why and from whom are Western values under attack? How are we seeing this manifested in our institutions? How does this relate to mental health and suicide? What can be done? Stephen Rainbow is three-term Wellington City Councillor, founding member of the Green Party, and has blogged extensively on gay issues.
Listen now, or Subscribe free:
Freedom to Speak – ACT’s campaign for Freedom of Expression:
Free Speech
ACT New Zealand
Politics in Full Sentences – Podcasts NZ
School of Practical Politics