New Zealand Listener Issue 52, 2022

Mike Taylor started Pie Funds 15 years ago and he’s been investing personally for even longer. These days the company manages over $2 billion* of investments and has offices in Hawke’s Bay, Auckland, Sydney and London. Taylor looks back on the company’s success since it launched in 2007 and explains what more than 15 years of investing has taught the team. In the 15 years since Pie Funds launched, there have been plenty of challenges: bear markets, the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid pandemic. But new growth sectors, innovative companies and technology offerings have created some fantastic investment opportunities. What has 15 years of investing taught the team? Build your wealth over the long term “I am proud of the wealth we have created for our clients over 15 years,” Founder and Chief Investment Officer…

As 2022 comes to an end, we need to remind ourselves that things could, in fact, be a lot worse, writes Listener editor KARYN SCHERER. My home office in the bush-clad hills of Titirangi is not an ideal workplace. Unfortunately, I never get sick of the view. During the first Covid lockdown in 2020, the air was so clear I could gaze at almost every house across the Auckland isthmus, and beyond to the Hauraki Gulf. These days, it is the foreground that more frequently captures my attention, as kererū swoop from the branches of still-healthy kauri. It’s as if they’re trying to photobomb the scene before my eyes. Probably because of their colouring, and their unique appeal, kererū (or tūī) often feature in Kiwi Christmas designs, along with the ubiquitous blooms of…

WINNING CAPTION Bob Richardson, Christchurch FINALISTS Lemur at the front: “You may say I’m a lemur, but I’m not the only one.” – Paul Kelly, Palmerston North Lemur at the front: “Don’t look now. It’s the paparazzi.” – Kate Gore, Tauranga Caption: In The Repair Shop today, Lee Mur and his daughter are hoping his grandmother’s old forest can be restored to its original condition. – Alan Belcher, Christchurch Sophie, Countess of Wessex (who made the gifts): “Your eyes are bigger than your tummy!” – Mavis Irik, Lower Hutt Lemur at the front: “Which one’s got the truffles from Harrods?” – Ann Love, Nelson Lemur at the front: “I’m suspicious of these presents – that wasn’t Santa.” – Trish Bishop, Hamilton Caption Competition {listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz} TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo at right to listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz, with “Caption Competition No 492”…

To claim health benefits, you should be required to provide evidence (“Natural selection”, December 10). Complementary medicines, including herbal medicine and homeopathy, may well be popular in countries such as France and Switzerland, and may well be covered by health insurance, but that doesn’t mean those countries have got it right. New Zealanders should not be paying for products that have not been clinically tested for efficacy and safety. Plant-based products are not necessarily safe, nor lower risk than medicines. Kiwi consumers are paying big bucks for complementary medicines that may be ineffective and, in some cases, even dangerous. We should not allow export exemption for dietary supplements for the reason that “we’re missing out on $500 million a year”. Rather, we should invest in science and show that these products actually do…

What were the top NZ quotes of 2022? These are some of the finalists in Massey University’s annual competition. “They said nobody cared about women’s rugby. Well, guess what? We out here! We out here, fam!”– Ruby Tui after winning the Rugby World Cup, again“If only we cared as much about the local elections as we do for Bird of the Year.”– Forest & Bird’s Nicola Toki on attempts to rig voting“I would have thought that Grant Robertson would be a much bigger threat to lamingtons than lamingtons would be a threat to Grant Robertson.”– Act leader David Seymour on police protecting the Finance Minister from a protester with a lamington“I wonder whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar…

The QI elves are a team of writers and comedians who find the answers to impossible questions, doing the research for the long-running QI TV series, podcasts and the spin-off books. For the next little while, we’ll be running some of their finest findings: the weird, wonderful, witty and wise, from their latest book, 222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions. Is there any truth to the old saying “Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning”? This saying has been around since biblical times, and it actually does hold true for people living in many parts of the world. In the UK [and NZ], the weather usually comes from the west, so when you look towards a sunset, you’re looking at the weather to come. If…