Today Mindful Money and the Responsible Investment Association Australasia launched their annual survey - Voices of Aotearoa: Demand for Ethical Investment in New Zealand 2025. The results show that while 75% of New Zealanders say they want their KiwiSaver and other funds to be invested ethically and responsibly, only 18% chose their Kiwisaver provider based on their values or ethics and sustainability. How do we close the gap between desire and reality? Both individuals and the financial services industry have a role to play.

Events of the past few days mean all of a sudden we find ourselves in a very different strategic environment, one in which the great powers rule supreme. It now appears inevitable that countries around the world will need to increase defence spending, either to appease or attempt to defend themselves from one or more great powers.

That increase will need to be offset by either additional revenue or cuts elsewhere. In the case of the UK, the government has elected to cut the budget for international aid in favour of increasing defence spending. Was that the right thing to do?

In the past few days several of New Zealand’s leading politicians have weighed in on the ‘State of the Nation’. Here’s my two cents worth.

In the last ten days Oxfam has released two fascinating reports relating to inequality, one of which also considers how it impacts climate change. Today also sees the inauguration of a billionaire US President who was bankrolled by the richest man in the world.