ANZ has been placed on the banking naughty step for potentially lending to New Zealanders without enough capital to protect deposits. How did this happen? Any journalist will tell you that Friday is a great time to issue an embarrassing press release. Journalists are humans with an eye on the weekend too, so they can … Read more
As Australian banks make more and more money in New Zealand, they contribute less and less to the economy, says Sam Stubbs. Here’s what we can do about it. The Australian banking inquiry has been the greatest scandal in Australian corporate history. Heads are rolling, fines being handed out and criminal charges laid. And it’s far … Read more
KiwiSavers like you and me are the benefactors New Zealand’s infrastructural development is looking for, says Simplicity’s Sam Stubbs. The government is signalling that New Zealand’s infrastructure build, apart from anything rail related, will go slower than expected. Increases in core funding, let alone mouldy surprises at Middlemore, are draining the national coffers of monies that any … Read more
The arguments against following Australia’s lead and holding a commission of inquiry into our banking and insurance industry don’t stack up. We’ve simply got to have one here, writes the head of one KiwiSaver provider Not long ago, Australian politicians, regulators, insurers and bankers were asked whether a Royal Commission into the banking and insurance industry … Read more
The key to better jobs, more money and a successful economy for all New Zealanders? Investors need to quit thinking like shareholders and start thinking like stakeholders, says Simplicity’s Sam Stubbs. Let me start by declaring my bias here. I’m a capitalist. I believe that competition and markets are the best way to maximise wealth … Read more
With over 2.8m members, KiwiSaver is the most successful financial product in New Zealand since the chequing account. Simplicity managing director Sam Stubbs looks at its potential for New Zealand. Since 2007, KiwiSavers have amassed $45 billion. That’s a lot of money, with a lot of potential payoffs for New Zealand. Already, we are starting to … Read more
Things might be very bleak internationally, but as we close out 2016 there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about our own economic future, as Sam Stubbs explains. In spite of recent earthquakes, real and political, I’m as bullish on New Zealand’s economic future as I’ve ever been. Setting aside the deeply troubling social … Read more
Over the past month, buried in the finance and markets pages of the Herald and elsewhere, there’s been a war brewing over KiwiSaver. The cause is the arrival and quick success of Simplicity, a not-for-profit Kiwisaver scheme. Simplicity’s Sam Stubbs responds to the latest, most aggressive attack from the sector. Something strange is happening to … Read more