The Long and the Short of It

This week, Oliver dives into commerce minister Cameron Brewer’s big consultation on the next phase of capital market reform and its big goal to reduce the cost of capital.

Chatham Rock Phosphate’s plans to return its primary listing to New Zealand will bring a new level of transparency to the would-be miner, while Kernel Wealth’s institutional mandate in the Fletcher Building retirement plan of yore marks quite the shift for the upstart fintech.

Paul suppresses his cynicism about consultation cycles.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander is a member of the NZX’s Corporate Governance Institute. Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX since January 2014.

This week, Oliver lauds Morrison’s next evolution in a partnership with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and its continued success managing Infratil.

Bremworth’s scuppered scheme of arrangement with rival Godfrey Hirst’s parent has everyone scratching their head, while the unceremonious exit of Chris Meehan has chief executive and chair of Winton Land is another example of how important succession planning can be.

Paul likes things on the record.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of Infratil. Paul McBeth has owned shares of Bremworth since January 2024.

This week, Oliver looks at Rocket Lab’s push into the spaces services age with its US$8 billion acquisition of Iridium, and some of the broader changes in telecommunications a Verizon Communications departs the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Some shareholder activism at Oceania Healthcare has him pondering the broader issues at play in the retirement village and aged care sector, and how funding elder health needs more than a soundbite.

Paul is deeply apologetic for messing up the sound in the first recording of the podcast, requiring a second take.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of Rocket Lab.

This week, Oliver reflects on Eroad’s annual meeting and the emergence of a mystery bidder for Tourism Holdings.

The National party’s posturing on KiwiSaver might need some rethinking on how New Zealand thinks more broadly about wealth and changes are afoot in the financial services space.

Paul shows off that he once read some Allen Curnow poems.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth’s KiwiSaver has been managed by Milford Asset Management since 2014 and he’s owned units of the Salt long short fund since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of Eroad.

This week, Oliver reveals how the NZ Shareholders’ Association will vote at next week’s Eroad annual meeting and discusses some of the tensions facing the transport hardware and software developer.

The listed primary sector gets a going over, with Comvita, Scales Corp, PGG Wrightson and Delegat Group coming in for some lively discussion.

And the strange situation of parity between New Zealand and US 10-year government bonds gets some deep consideration about the local economy.

Paul is very casual in the evenings.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of PGG Wrightson and Eroad.

This week, Oliver unpicks the hype of the SpaceX initial public offering and bemoans the worst possible outcomes New Zealand’s getting from the exemptions on the regulated investment regime.

There are some issues in the rolling over of bonds in some of the latest debt offerings, and Meridian Energy’s plans for a bigger offtake at Lake Pūkaki should help bolster confidence in the country’s much-maligned power market.

Paul wonders if there’s life on Mars.

This week, Oliver dives into Heartland Group Holdings stealing the march on Kiwibank in chasing consolidation in the banking sector with its TSB deal.

He eyes up Ngāi Tahu’s selldown of its Sanford stake and just where the new capital will get put to work, and wonders just what’s going on at Spark New Zealand.

Paul is looking for a purpose.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of Heartland Group Holdings. Paul McBeth is a mobile and broadband customer of Spark New Zealand.

This week, Oliver looks at Eroad’s latest shareholder agitation and a sweetened offer for Tourism Holdings.

He rattles through the final flurry of the shoulder earnings season, with New Zealand King Salmon Investments and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare shining for him.

And the Reserve Bank’s embrace of transparency and Simon Watts’ tweak to the foreign investment fund tax regime get a few thoughts.

Paul really likes sausage rolls.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Mainfreight since July 2025. Oliver Mander owns shares of Eroad, Black Pearl, Infratil, Ryman Healthcare and NZ King Salmon.

This week, Oliver dives into the flurry of AI news from Nvidia’s latest stonking result, to OpenAI’s accelerated plans to go public to Anthropic’s dalliance with profitability.

He muses that Jarden’s latest shake-up might pave the way for a broader reordering of the local wealth management and investment banking sectors and looks at AoFrio’s board backing a faster path to growth.

Plus, he reflects on his latest work finding a bit of divergence among some of the larger KiwiSaver providers.

Paul has positive cash flow on his mind.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Tower since January 2024 and had his KiwiSaver managed by Milford Asset Management since 2014. Oliver Mander owns shares of Tower, My Food Bag and AoFrio. Mander oversees investment trusts that have a relationship with FirstCape’s JBWere.

This week, Oliver dives into the latest OECD report into New Zealand, which offered a wide range of policy prescriptions to help invigorate the domestic capital markets to help power our moribund productivity.

Analysts seemed to show their disapproval about Xero’s US aspirations after a robust result, while Pacific Edge’s return to the Medicare fold provided a lesson in persistence, and Rocket Lab’s moonshot keeps getting closer.

Paul is obviously uncomfortable without his tie.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of Rocket Lab and Xero.

This week, Oliver looks at the transformational contract Infratil’s CDC data centres business has signed and the staggering surge in the infrastructure investor’s share price.

Gentrack’s woes in the face of the SaaS-pocalypse and the rise of the Kraken poses a different side to the AI theme, while My Food Bag’s strategic review might not be the straightforward sale that people ae thinking.

And the Australian Shareholders’ Association’s annual conference got Oliver thinking.

Paul works hard on the segues.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Rakon since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of Infratil, My Food Bag, Taiwan Semicondiuctor and Channel Infrastructure. He travelled to the ASA’s conference in Melbourne on behalf of the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

The latest S&P Dow Jones Indices Versus Active report for New Zealand is out, and Oliver has been pondering just what that means for the never-ending struggle between active and passive managers as New Zealanders become more engaged with KiwiSaver.

He notes the Financial Markets Authority has joined the increasingly nervous group of global regulators worried about this new social media thing, what might constitute financial advice, and how disclosures have developed.

And BlackBull Markets gives everyone a lesson that volatility doesn’t need to freeze everything.

Paul gets a little risky.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned units of the Smart NZX50 exchange traded fund, Salt Funds Management’s long-short fund, and Milford Asset Management’s active growth and aggressive funds since January 2024. His KiwiSaver funds have been managed by Milford since 2014. Oliver Mander owns shares of My Food Bag.

This week, Oliver reflects on the NZX’s last annual meeting with Mark Peterson at the helm of the stock market operator, and the prospects of Channel Infrastructure making a play for Exxon Mobil’s New Zealand assets – be they the whole shaboodle or just the wholesale assets.

NZME’s annual meeting gets a quick review, while Oliver explains why New Zealand’s Companies Act gives local shareholders greater flexibility than Australia’s three strikes rule on remuneration reports.

Paul didn’t get much sleep.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has been a member of the NZ Shareholders' Association since February 2024 and has owned shares of NZX and Vista Group International since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of NZX and Channel Infrastructure, and previously worked at BP and Z Energy.

This week, Oliver reflects on the association’s briefing on KiwiSaver from Kernel Wealth’s Dean Anderson and Generate Investment Management’s Greg Smith and the various balls in the air when it comes to everything about retirement.

He praises Comvita for getting its ducks in a row with a capital raising and shares what he’s investing in and why.

Paul goes on a rant about trust in media and spruiks his efforts to lift the transparency of those in the news game.

This week, Oliver looks at the market response to the US-Iran ceasefire and how people have been navigating the choppy March waters.

The ASIC inquiry’s final report into major cultural problems at the ASX has some lessons for local investors who think the world of our neighbouring exchange, plus a few other tips for the NZX to keep in mind.

And fintech hopeful Runway’s acquisition of Lock Finance gets some discussion on whether non-bank lending can actually get some cut-through and help lift the nation’s productivity.

Paul remembers Scribe.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX and Geneva Finance since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of NZX.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Oliver looks at the ins and outs of KMD Brands’ steeply discounted capital raising and lays out what the outdoor equipment retailer will need to do to win back the trust of its retailer investor base. The New Zealand Herald’s latest chief executive remuneration report gets us thinking about whether those top dogs are worth their pay packets. And it’s back to the futures market for the NZX as various players join in to give the stock exchange a leg up in helping drive liquidity in the local bourse.

Paul humblebrags about how late he stayed up.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of NZX and Heartland Group Holdings.

This week, Oliver turns his mind to the culture of leaks that has everyone in New Zealand’s commercial circles tune into the Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk and The Australian’s Dataroom columns every morning to see who’s doing what and whether their own deals have been breaking into the Sydney investment banking gossip circles.

Santana Minerals’ upcoming special meeting in Perth gets some discussion going about the need for boards to get in front of their shareholders, wherever they might be, and how about that market volatility?

Paul gets caught up in shenanigans.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of NZX.

This week, Oliver reflects on Miles Hurrell’s tenure as chief executive of Fonterra Cooperative Group in getting the dairy exporter back on the straight and narrow.

Meanwhile, KMD Brands is lounging at a record-low on the stock exchange, with rumours of a recapitalisation on the cards ahead the retailer’s upcoming earnings result.

Paul accepts responsibility for some of the wider diversions he takes everyone on.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Oliver looks at the heightening conflict in the Middle East and ponders New Zealand’s slow conversion to an electric vehicle fleet and how policymakers will have to navigate those treacherous waters of a supply-side inflation shock.

He also reports back on Port of Tauranga’s investor day last week and broader questions of New Zealand’s maritime hubs. And he discusses some of the things Rakon shareholders will need to consider as Bourns bears down on the 90% threshold it needs to trigger mop-up provisions in its takeover bid for the high-tech manufacturer.

Paul manages to avoid the distraction of a puppy.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Rakon since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of Rakon.

This week, Oliver looks at the rippling effects of the latest conflict in the Middle East, as rising oil prices revive the threat of a new inflation dragon rearing its head and putting central banks, including our own Reserve Bank, on notice.

National carrier Air New Zealand gets some special attention as its hedging programme comes up and a strategic review raises some thorny policy questions about what to do with regional routes.

And despite the turmoil, successful listings by Rua Gold and Taiko Critical Minerals have revived some newfound optimism for the NZX this year, with departing chief executive Mark Peterson laying a solid foundation for his still-to-be-announced successor.

Splodge steals the show.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth and Oliver Mander travelled to Punakaiki courtesy of Taiko Critical Minerals in January. Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of NZX, BP and Fletcher Building.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Oliver digs into the flurry of earnings and forecasts such as Ebos Group, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Air New Zealand in what’s generally been a fairly been showing signs of our much spoken of economic recovery.

Genesis Energy’s rush to join the capital raising bandwagon came with a dividend coming out the other end, getting a broader meditation on New Zealand’s love affair with dividends (and those sweet imputation credits).

And that leads into a few thoughts on the next phase of KiwiSaver as we start thinking about decumulation (or how you spend it).

Paul goes on some very broad diversions and discovers the battery life of his Airpods and that they don’t have the greatest sound quality.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Oliver reflects on Contact Energy’s $525 million capital raising and how expensive the wider push into developing new renewable generation is going to be – looks like a growth opportunity for the companies typically held for their reliable income.

Meanwhile, different treatments on the legal stoush by SkyCity Entertainment Group and Fletcher Building had Oliver diving into the weeds of accounting standards and just what the word probably means.

Annual meetings for NZ King Salmon Investments and Tower ushered in some changes at the respective companies, while Reserve Bank governor Anna Breman is playing monetary policy with a very straight bat indeed.

Paul still can’t work out where the first second of the video comes from.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Tower since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of Tower, SkyCity Entertainment Group, Fletcher Building and recently purchased shares of NZ King Salmon Investments. He’s a member of the global user advisory board to the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Oliver pushes Paul on the latest court hearing in the Financial Markets Authority’s case against Booster Investment Management, where the fund manager sought access to documents about how some of its peers oversee their related party transactions, and they ponder what impact the proceedings will have on the wider industry.

Bourns’ formal takeover offer for Rakon is in and Oliver discusses some of the things shareholders will have to consider, and he foreshadows some work the NZ Shareholders’ Association has been doing on how to understand chief executive remuneration.

Paul gets het up about some of the global leads the local market latches on to.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Rakon since January 2024, and has yet to decide on whether to accept the Bourns offer. He also has investments including his KiwiSaver managed by Milford Asset Management and has been a member of the NZ Shareholders’ Association since February 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of Rakon.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Oliver discusses Ryman Healthcare’s recent investor day, where the retirement village operator outlined its planned return to paying dividends on sustainable cash flows, and picks apart just how it separates retail shareholders from institutional investors.

Plus, he looks into the recent tech tumble on Wall Street and how Kiwi-born, ASX-listed Xero stands in the latest environment, plus the Reserve Bank of Australia’s recent rate hike gets a going over as well as the current predictions on this side of the Tasman.

Paul delights in wearing a tie.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Vista Group International since January 2024. Oliver Manders owns shares of Vista, Ryman Healthcare, Black Pearl Group and Eroad.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Oliver interrogates Paul’s Pollyanna-ish outlook on the potential for new listings on the NZX this year, plus he muses on the growing share of local capital going on an OE.

Plus, the woes at Germany’s Volkswagen and the ebbs and flows of the auto industry come up for discussion.

Paul struggles to remember the names of the Ritchies bus company and UK listings firm Rightmove.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Tower and NZX since January 2025. Oliver Mander owns shares of NZX, Tower, and BMW.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Paul and Oliver are back from a quick foray on the West Coast where they’ve been shown around by NZX-hopeful Tāiko Critical Minerals and its plans to extract garnet, zircon and illuminate from the minerals sands on the Barrytown Flats.

The latest goings on in Trump 2.0 have injected some volatile times in global markets as a new world order descends, and Oliver reflects on Fletcher Building’s plans to hive off its construction arm to France’s Vinci.

Paul looks decidedly uncomfortable out of his tie.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth and Oliver Mander travelled to the West Coast courtesy of Tāiko Critical Minerals. Paul McBeth has owned units of Salt’s long short fund since January 2024.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander return with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

In the first episode of 2026, Oliver talks about the surprise takeover bid for Australia’s BlueScope Steel by ASX-listed SGL and the Nasdaq’s Steel Dynamics, and ponders it what it might mean for NZ Steel and New Zealand’s broader steel sector.

And while we’re on takeover talk, Rakon’s upcoming bid from America’s Bourns spurs some thoughts about how under-valued some NZX-listed firms are.

Meanwhile, the mooted listing of miner Tāiko Critical Minerals gets a healthy discussion on the next generation of extractive industries in New Zealand.

Paul forgets to introduce the name of podcast.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Rakon since January 2024. He’s travelling to the West Coast next week at the expense of Tāiko Critical Minerals. Oliver Mander owns shares of Rakon.

In the final episode of 2025, Oliver peers into the crystal ball to ponder what the year ahead might hold, with New Zealand’s economy showing signs of life, the India free trade deal set to open new doors, and the cycle turning in favour of maybe, just maybe new companies coming to the NZX.

The digressions come thick and fast we Oliver and Paul cherry pick a few moments of New Zealand’s history, mull over the never-ending theme of AI, and even ponder whether the country will get its act together when it comes to infrastructure planning and investment.

Paul goes out the gate on a couple of very wide digressions, plus he shamelessly spruiks his father’s book in the background.

This week, Oliver and Paul reflect on 2025 and all the things that happened, such as the burgeoning signs of life in the domestic economy, the rise and rise of the small- and mid-cap companies on the NZX and the growing tide of shareholder activism.

At least that’s what they were meant to do, but there were digressions aplenty as they cast their minds back on the year that was.

Plus they deal with a very unexpected technical difficulty that only the sharpest of eyes will pick up on.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Bremworth since January 2024.

This week, Oliver lets Paul take the lead in reflecting on the ongoing streaming wars saga, where Warner Bros Discovery has two suitors in the form of the Ellison-backed Paramount Skydance and Netflix, and what it might mean for Sky Network Television’s grip on the premier HBO content library.

Sky’s navigation of the changing landscape gets a going over, and the pair muse on potential mega-IPOs coming to Wall Street in 2026 in the form of SpaceX and AI chatbot Claude’s creator, Anthropic.

Oh, and Westpac NZ’s early mover in the mortgage rate market gets us a little ranty about the fact that indicates New Zealand’s economy is coming off life support.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of Rocket Lab and Sky Network Television. Paul McBeth has term deposits and credit cards with Westpac NZ and ASB Bank.

This week, Oliver reflects on the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association’s annual business journalism awards and indulges Paul’s musings on all things media.

Plus, he looks at the Reserve Bank’s latest rate cut and how markets might have possibly got ahead of themselves.

Paul pushes some long-held barrows.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has been a member of the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association since February 2024. He has never been nominated for an NZSA business journalism award and isn’t bitter at all.

This week, Oliver’s been talking about New Zealand’s experience when it comes to all things sustainable at a CAANZ conference in Sydney and has a few thoughts to share, including on the broader auditing profession at large.

Plus, Tower and Ryman Healthcare’s have been on his mind in recent days, as well Channel Infrastructure’s foray into a Melbourne pipeline.

He also welcomes the National Party’s latest foray into KiwiSaver settings, and how that just might trigger the broader pension discussion New Zealand has to have.

Paul finally worked out where to place his microphone.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Tower since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of Tower, Channel Infrastructure and Ryman Healthcare.

This week, Oliver has things to do so we rattle through the topics and how could we ignore Nvidia’s stonkingly good quarterly result that still wasn’t enough to quell those growing fears about those very frothy valuations for AI-style companies.

The local earnings season has firms getting a little more positive about things, and New Talisman Gold Mines gets Oliver musing on a couple of the smaller resources stocks.

Plus, it seems some reputable Australian media have picked up on our observation a couple of weeks back that the NZX should be having a look at Cboe’s Australian business.

Paul wears a tie even when he’s at home.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of NZX.

This week, Oliver ponders the looming vote by Comvita shareholders, which looks set to reject the $56 million scheme from Mark Stewart’s Florenz, and runs through some of the options facing the heavily indebted Mānuka honey products maker.

Plus he looks back at Vital Healthcare Property Trust’s external management contract, which is attracting a hefty fee to bring inhouse. And there’s some brief musing on Syft Technologies.

Paul rues the placement of his chair relative to the microphone.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander holds shares of Syft Technologies.

This week, Oliver looks at some of the growing signs that New Zealand’s economy might be turning a corner, from ANZ’s sentiment surveys to Freightways’ comments at its recent annual meeting to improving sales for retailers such as Hallenstein Glasson Holdings.

He gets drawn into Paul’s flight of fancy for the NZX to look under the hood of Cboe’s Australian assets that are coming to market, and reflects on some of the issues plaguing the ASX. Plus, James Hardie’s acrimonious annual meeting comes in for some attention.

Paul flies kites.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of NZX.

The Bottom Line’s Paul McBeth and New Zealand Shareholders’ Association chief executive Oliver Mander try their hands at this podcast thing with The Long and the Short of It, where they discuss the latest goings-on in marketland.

This week, Oliver looks at South Port New Zealand’s ongoing success in flying below the radar as the maritime hub’s chief executive Nigel Gear prepares to depart in 2026, and considers the ongoing issues the nation’s had in trying to coordinate some of those vital supply chains.

He also talks up the local investor community’s ability to provide capital to those early-stage firms enamoured by tapping money abroad and has an eye on Parrotdog’s debut on the Catalist platform. Plus, a win for the media industry in crisis as the National Business Review stared down some reticent corporates who preferred not to pay for every user logging into the storied publication.

Paul seems to think everything is great and glorious.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth worked at BusinessDesk for 15 years, including two under NZME ownership. The Bottom Line’s sister operation Curious News supplies the National Business Review with the end of day report.

This week, Oliver goes against the grain on commerce minister Scott Simpson’s relaxation of climate disclosure rules in sticking up for the insights directors and investors have gained from poking their nose a little deeper into their emissions profiles, even if the regime did need some finetuning.

He also muses on Allied Farmers’ multi-million dollar question after the sale of its stake in NZ Farmers Livestock and how its board will manage that capital with the hefty tax losses sitting on its balance sheet.

Paul goes on a rant.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of Tower and Allied Farmers since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of Allied Farmers, Tower and Eroad.

This week, Oliver looks at the latest goings on at PGG Wrightson where the rural services firm’s two biggest shareholders – Agria and Elders – made a run-of-the-mill annual meeting anything but as they ousted chair Garry Moore and his deputy Sarah Brown.

He reflects on prime minister Christopher Luxon’s meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong and what deeper collaboration between the NZX and SGX might bring, and he couldn’t look past the flash-in-the-pan slump on Wall Street last week on President Donald Trump’s latest Truth Social diplomacy.

Paul jumps around, both literally and metaphorically.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX since January 2024. Oliver Mander owns shares of PGG Wrightson and NZX.

This week, Oliver thinks about the role investment banks have in getting companies to list, with the unconscious bias among our Aussie peers prevalent in convincing local firms to go with the ASX, but noting a blossoming among mid-market advisory firms that should start to pay dividends.

He also turns his mind to the raft of undervalued companies on the NZX, which seems to be driving the most recent takeovers of Bremworth and Restaurant Brands New Zealand, and with Sharesies’ latest quarterly index to hand, he notes it’s gauge of investor confidence is tracking very much in line with the NZSA’s weekly round-up.

Paul gets a little worked up.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has owned shares of NZX and Bremworth since January 2024.

This week, Oliver reflects on Synlait Milk’s sale of the Pōkeno factory and gives Bright Dairy a bouquet for its unwavering support of the processor through its travails at a time when the dairy sector has been going gangbusters. And he notes it’s not just dairy driving some thriving regional economies, although his recent trip to the Skyline Enterprises annual meeting did highlight the perennial infrastructure issue plaguing the nation. Paul makes a pun.

This week, Oliver has returned from the sunny Gold Coast with retirement on his mind after the Australian Shareholders’ Association’s Queensland investor summit, and bagful of ideas on how to think about this ageing thing and paying for it – all before the Treasury released its long-term fiscal statement with some bad news if people want to keep their heads in the sand. He also brought home some interesting economic messages from Bendigo Bank’s chief economist David Robertson that have some lessons for New Zealand, and has some thoughts on the shortcomings of the wholesale investor regime in the wake of the Financial Markets Authority’s court case last week. Paul realises he’s not an audio engineer.

This week, Oliver welcomes us into his home where he muses on the funk in the economy after Statistics New Zealand’s latest figures blindsided economists of all hues. He also notes Locate Technologies’ decision to join the NZX bursts some illusions that everything is so much better on the West Island, while Sam Stubbs’ faux pas is a timely reminder about the danger of key person risk and tying up an organisation’s brand into a charismatic founder. Paul can’t quite remember things.

Disclosure: Paul McBeth has investments in funds managed by Milford Asset Management, including his KiwiSaver.

This week, Oliver canvasses far and wide as the Financial Services Council’s annual conference poses some interesting topics around retirement savings, KiwiSaver and deeper thoughts on all things investment. He also reflects on Stride Property’s push into funds management with its latest Investore Property deal, and hands out a bouquet to Tower (all before the insurer’s earnings upgrade on Friday). Paul gets very excitable about KiwiSaver and misquotes Dylan Thomas.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of Tower. Paul McBeth has owned shares of Tower and Stride Property since January 2024 and investments in funds managed by Milford Asset Management, including his KiwiSaver. He’s also a customer of Tower.

This week, Oliver reflects on earnings season, where a2 Milk seems to recover some of its lost mojo while Ebos Group’s reputation for success got thrown a curveball and Skyline Enterprises has been a notable standout in the tourism sector. Things get a little pointy-headed as Oliver turns his mind to the Law Commission’s review into directors’ duties, something the Reserve Bank probably could’ve used as it wrestles with the sudden departure of chair Neil Quigley. Paul finally gets to say “cultural malaise”.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of Skyline Enterprises. Paul McBeth has owned shares of Bremworth since January 2024.

This week, Oliver reflects on a well-executed deal for Fonterra, acknowledging the ever-so-subtle shift in appetite for IPOs and the still very limited opportunities for Kiwis to invest in the nation’s dominant dairy sector. He also looks at the new lease of life for Metroglass with a brand new cornerstone shareholder and a potential pathway out of some vast value destruction, and muses on the growing interventionism of Trump 2.0 probably isn’t going away and definitely isn’t limited to the White House. Paul wonders whether anyone will notice he got some flowers to brighten up his office.

This week, Oliver takes time out of busily rushing aroundthe country to ponder the animal spirits driving stock markets and how investors can marry that up to underlying company metrics, plus how transport software and hardware company Eroad is starting to come right. Plus, earnings season is underway and Fletcher Building and Spark New Zealand offer some helpful insights into what’s next when an earlier strategy needs tweaking (or even ditching). Paul straightens his tie.

 Disclosure: Oliver Mander owns shares of Wise, Rocket Lab, Skellerup and Eroad.

This week, Oliver’s holiday is disrupted by the governance battle lining up at Rakon (predating two of the independent directors calling it quits). And while he’s at it, Alliance’s incoming Irish friend has him ponder raising capital as a cooperative, the Trouchet family’s bid for Tourism Holdings raises some interesting questions on when to recuse yourself from a board and Craigs Investment Partners’ web of director links makes for some interesting mind-mapping. Paul swivels in his chair.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander and Paul McBeth both own shares of Rakon.

This week, Oliver shares some deep thoughts about the departure of NZX chief executive Mark Peterson, how Vital’s board must be grappling with the takeover bid from Tait International, Kiwibank’s capital raising and some of the inflows and outflows of our major KiwiSaver providers. Paul gets very animated.

Disclosure: Oliver Mander and Paul McBeth both own shares of NZX. Paul McBeth’s KiwiSaver provider is Milford Asset Management.