Six years of a begrudged equity market rally is leaving investors nervous.

"Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." - Niels Bohr

The main event for the month was the RBNZ’s April OCR Review, coming hot on the heels of its March decision to cut the OCR to 2.25% that took many local economists by surprise.

A key theme for markets moving into 2016 has been the persistence of low inflation, and the battle facing central banks to avoid low inflation becoming embedded within the expectations of households and businesses.

The RBNZ’s approach to communication has faced some criticism following last week’s cut in the OCR, which surprised many bank economists, leaving some confused and others plain flabbergasted. This is not an attempt to defend the RBNZ, but to look at the facts.

The RBNZ’s approach to communication has faced some criticism following last week’s cut in the OCR, which surprised many bank economists, leaving some confused and others plain flabbergasted.  This is not an attempt to defend the RBNZ, but to look at the facts.

While some New Zealand companies produced solid earnings results, and overall the results were not as bad as some may have expected, there was a wider divergence of earnings growth outcomes than in previous periods.

Recent inflation expectation surveys create a real headache for the Reserve Bank, Harbour Asset Management director of fixed interest Christian Hawkesby says.

No two active fund managers are the same.

Australia is still the market that global investors love to hate.

Capital markets have had a volatile start to 2016, the Year of the Monkey.

After much anticipation, the US Federal Reserve has finally delivered its first rate hike in 10 years, lifting the Fed Funds target rate to 0.25-0.50%.  

In a finely balanced decision, the RBNZ cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 2.50% as part of its December Monetary Policy Statement (MPS).

Whether it's the new Tesla cars that everyone is talking about, equality of remuneration for women, or collapses of finance companies during the GFC; Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues are a prevalent theme of discussion.