Australia is looking at enshrining the term "financial planner/adviser" into law. New Zealand is already a step ahead. We look at the titles advisers are using, what the law allows, and what advisers may call themselves in the future.

Global growth cannot tell you the best countries to invest in - but if 2011-2020 continues broadly as assumed, ERP is unlikely to stay at its current high.

Whenever clients are thinking about putting money that would have been invested into paying back their mortgage, they may be disadvantaging themselves.

Gold has traditionally been seen as a safe haven to provide insurance to portfolios - but on 11 April its price began to free fall. Why? And does gold have a place in portfolios?

Are low volatility equity funds something investors should be including in their portfolios? There are a range of issues to consider.

If Africa could behave more together economically, by 2050, BRICs would become BRICA. Plus, the $A is more and more on my radar,

We're seeing a significant correction in global equity markets and commodity markets including a staggering decline in gold. What does this mean for portfolios?

Should you have a minimum asset threshold for new clients? Should there be other factors that you look at beyond just assets? How do you communicate your criteria to prospective clients?

It is unfortunate that most people spend much more time considering investment risk than mortality risk.

China is in the throes of a classic credit bubble, showing all three key signs of any classic bubble. This is a big theme for markets.

What Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda announced last week was quite dramatic. It is the first time I can remember Japanese policymakers truly and positively surprising markets.

With interest rates at historic lows, and likelyrate rises ahead, what are the implications for building the fixed income part of portfolios?

A sizeable number of the Disclosure Statements we've reviewed are unnecessarily complicated and are turning a straight forward process into a nightmare.

It's time we financial planners stopped viewing clients who don't implement as "bad clients" and instead develop the skills to motivate them to do it.

With 440,000 pre-registered to buy Mighty River Power, we asked some advisers about their view on the role of direct equities in investor's portfolios.

Despite the Cypriot tragedy, the next few years will see stronger global GDP numbers than in a very long time.

Exchange rate adjustments are likely to help the global recovery but the situation bears monitoring.

What we really need from the coming review is policy that addresses retirement income for young New Zealanders.

How can a $22bn economy be the dominant global topic of conversation? Cyprus is the epicentre of strategic issues.

Is the bull market over for gold? I doubt it. The next phase could be quite explosive, particularly for the gold mining stocks.