Weekly Wrap: Budget bonanza

Yesterday’s Budget was unquestionably the biggest ever for the savings industry.

Friday, May 18th 2007, 3:02PM

Good Returns has in-depth coverage of the Budget as it relates to the savings industry – not just one story, along with copies of some of the key Budget documents explaining the changes. In addition to this we have posted some of the responses from various industry groups into the Features section so you can see first hand what others are thinking.

The two other themes to come through in this week’s News is a follow-up on the status of APB talks and the launch of a new platform/support service for advisers.

Sticking with APBs first. Many people responded to the Blog on the collapse of the G4 APB concept – you can read a selection of comments in the Blog. Keep sending in your feedback as it is important for all readers of Good Returns to understand what advisers and industry players are thinking.

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Once the headlines of yesterday’s Budget Bonanza for the savings industry settle down and the fund managers’ hangovers wear off it’s time to work out what it all means practically. [more]

The other fascinating story was the announcement from MFS that it has launched a business offering support to smaller advisory businesses.
MiCentre, as it is known, is being set up as something new and distinct from MFS’s planning chain Vestar. Again Good Returns has talked to MFS about the service and you can read the story here.

On the Deposit taking front we continue to see increases in rates. The main one this week is from Hanover which has increased rates for two reasons. One being the recent increase the official cash rate and the other competitive pressure. We see banks continue to push up their TD rates and this appears to be impacting on finance companies and other providers.

One question we have asked is why is the BNZ the only major bank without an online savings account? After all, it is the big growth part of the market. The bank’s response is here.

You can compare rates and see what’s on offer at www.depositrates.co.nz

In People this week we have a new role for Ian Smedly, a new GM at St Laurence Property and Finance and two reappointments on the Securities Commission.

While many borrowers and home owners are worried about the increasing mortgage rates we have seen Kiwibank buck the trends this week. It has cut its fixed rates in an effort to win some of the refinance business happening at the moment. Kiwibank remains aggressive in this market and to date none of the big banks have matched its rates above the line. To see how sharp the rates are use the comprehensive Good Returns Mortgage Centre. Here you can compare and sort rates.

The other related news in this space is that the Budget yesterday signaled a crack down on property speculators. Good Returns’ sister site Landlords.co.nz has an indepth story on this.

2007 Investment Year Book
The essential handbook for every Kiwi share market trader and investor.
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