fees

1. 28 May 2021

   Active investment is great! Just pick the right domain

   Investing actively is great. By this, I'm talking about putting your time, energy, talents, knowledge, and expertise into how you invest. On the other hand, investing passively is great too. It really…

2. 31 August 2018

   Why Fairhaven Wealth’s fees are increasing

   I'm raising my fees substantially — from $879 to $1,800 including GST. Writing this is a way of being transparent with readers and clients, and getting my head (and my feels) around the decision. $879…

3. 27 August 2018

   On Simplicity becoming cash flow positive

   Simplicity is now cash flow positive, sooner than its founder expected. Even when it wasn't, I was sanguine about recommending it. The underlying assets are highly liquid, and the Public Trust holds t…

4. 20 May 2018

   The difference between a financial adviser and an investment manager

   If the first thing you ask a financial adviser is where they get their research from, you're probably conflating two very different roles. Advisers work with clients; investment managers sit in front…

5. 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…

6. 11 August 2017

   Money in the media, July/August

   I haven't written any "Weekend reading" articles recently. This hasn't stopped me from collecting a pile of clippings and links. I'll have missed many good articles, but some that are on my pile/list…

7. 30 July 2017

   Excessive fees – “a tax on smart people who don’t realise their propensity for doing stupid things”

   Excessive investment fees are "a tax on smart people who don't realise their propensity for doing stupid things" — a line from a Freakonomics episode that cuts close to how I think about my job as a f…

8. 12 April 2017

   “Hurry up and wait” – why laziness is an investor’s best friend

   In most of life, the best things go to those who hustle. Spend more, get more. Investing is the inversion: the riches go to those who wait, and performance and fees are inversely related. You’re rewar…

9. 4 April 2017

   “Fees never sleep.” – Warren Buffett’s bet

   For most people, I advocate investing in low-cost passive investments. Warren Buffett is probably a bigger advocate than me. He bet $500,000 that a low-cost S&P 500 index fund would beat a basket of h…