ethics

1. 21 April 2020

   Niceness isn’t goodness

   Niceness does not equal goodness. Gavin de Becker's line has stuck with me. How often do we trust people on a gut read of "nice" or "credible"? Con-artists and psychopaths tend to be charming — that's…

2. 1 November 2019

   The minefield of ethical investing

   Ethical investing sounds simple: invest in line with your values. In practice it's a minefield. What counts as ethical varies wildly from person to person, the labels on funds often don't mean what yo…

3. 25 October 2019

   Situational ethics

   Ethics in the abstract makes people roll their eyes, but "what's the right thing to do" is one of the most engaging conversations you can have. What often gets overlooked in Ethics 101 is how much sit…

4. 11 March 2018

   The absurdity of asset-based fees

   Most investment advisers in New Zealand charge asset-based fees — a percentage of your portfolio. On $1 million, that's typically around $9,000 a year, every year, with no obvious link to the work bei…

5. 17 August 2017

   Career risk and how to manage it

   Retirement is often a euphemism for being displaced from the workforce — and involuntary unemployment is one of the few things with an enduring negative impact on life satisfaction. Career risk is rea…

6. 23 January 2016

   Is there a relationship between luck and morality?

   It's easy to think of ourselves and others as moral or ethical people — as if it's an internal trait, largely independent of context. But what if circumstances play a significant role in our actions a…

7. 25 July 2015

   “The dirt on coming clean”

   Conflicts of interest are unavoidable in professional services — the question is how you manage them. Disclosure is the popular answer, but research suggests it can actually make advice worse, not bet…