Commercial property syndicates are making a comeback and are gaining momentum amongst investors keen to diversify their investment portfolios, and SPI Capital is at the forefront of the game.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is unlikely to inflame the housing market further if it moves to cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR), ASB economists believe.

The battle for term deposit money heated up some more this week with Kiwibank and Bank of New Zealand making significant increases to rates yesterday.

Mark Childs from Mortgage Link, Wairapapa has won The New Zealand Mortgage Broker of the Year for 2009.

The Code Committee has confirmed some issues around pending financial adviser regulation, but has suggested some advisers will have to meet higher educational thresholds than first thought.

Australia's economic downturn may prove to be one of the shallower ‘recessions' the nation has faced and the central bank will have to lift interest rates at some point, Governor Glenn Stevens told the parliament's economics committee.

Wellington

Standard & Poor's has stripped both South Canterbury Finance and Marac of their investment grade ratings.

Standard & Poor's has stripped both South Canterbury Finance and Marac of their investment grade ratings.

Andrew Johnson, former head of relationship management at AMP Capital, has joined the Russell Investments NZ team.