Artificial intelligence, or AI, is one of the hottest topics around at the moment. We've all heard of ChatGPT, which can help you with your homework or write a pretty good anniversary card for your spouse. Apparently. Many industries are at risk of being disrupted by these advances, potentially leading to some jobs becoming less relevant, or even obsolete. At the same time, the innovations and potential productivity improvements are exciting. For investors, these trends shouldn't be ignored. AI will continue to improve and the pace with which these changes start to impact society could be more rapid than we think.

We got some fresh unemployment figures last week, for both New Zealand and the US. In both cases, the upshot was that the labour market is still extremely tight and wages are still rising solidly, albeit at a slower pace. Against that backdrop, it’s hard to believe a recession might be on the doorstep of either country. Things can’t be that bad when everyone has a job and the labour market is still ticking over nicely, can they?

Banking sector woes, worries about the US debt ceiling and a string of interest rate hikes from the world's central banks are keeping markets nervous at the moment. Over the coming week we've got the Australian budget, a crucial inflation report out of the US, and more international earnings releases as the reporting season winds down. Find out what all this means for investors, and what you need to keep an eye on in the days ahead.

If you’re lucky enough to have a bit of surplus cash at the moment, it’s a difficult time to think about putting it to work. You want your hard-earned capital to work productively, but it’s scary to think about venturing into financial markets (or any asset class, for that matter) with your savings. Jumping in boots and all could be unwise, while sitting back and waiting for perfect conditions to emerge can also backfire. In this episode, we'll discuss some of these challenges and talk about strategies investors can use to get invested.

The month of April proved to be another strong one for equity markets across the world, ensuring that the run of good returns investors have enjoyed since late 2022 continued. However, we are entering a period that is typically more challenging. Looking to the week ahead, there is plenty to keep investors busy. This week, we’ll be watching central bank decisions in Australia, Europe and the US, with the latter set to be the key event. Some important economic releases are due, while the international reporting season continues as well. Key releases will come from Ecolab, FMC Corporation, Starbucks, CVS health and Apple. Locally, the March quarter labour force report will be a highlight, as will the latest Financial Stability Report from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. We discuss all of this, and more, on this episode so tune in to find out everything you need to know for the upcoming week across financial markets!

The eagerly awaited Inland Revenue tax research report was released on Wednesday. Revenue Minister David Parker has suggested this provides evidence the super-wealthy are paying much lower tax rates than many ordinary New Zealanders. It's not quite as simple as that, and we don’t yet know how the Government proposes closing this gap (if it does at all), but tax policy looks set to be a key battleground in the lead-up to the election in October. Watch this space.

In this week's podcast Mark Lister, Investment Director, discusses New Zealand's lower than expected inflation in the March quarter and what it means for investors. He also previews a busy five days ahead, which will see the release of business confidence and an important tax report locally, as well as GDP figures out of the US and a plethora of earnings releases from some international heavyweights.

In this podcast episode, Mark Lister, Investment Director, will explain the difference between nominal returns and real returns and why investors need to be mindful of the differences when looking to grow their capital over the long term.

In our podcast this week, Mark Lister, Investment Director, discusses how global sharemarkets have staged a strong rebound of late. Despite a lot of volatility this year, the first three months of 2023 have been very lucrative for investors that have held their nerve. There’s plenty to watch in the days ahead, with the Reserve Bank likely to be a local high. While another hike in the Official Cash Rate is all but assured, we’ll be looking for clues as to what the Reserve Bank will do next.