Goodman Property Trust to raise $150 million; Transpower dishes up detail of bond offer; CBS surprised at deposit war intensity; Latest rate changes and more.

Resurgent appetite for higher-yielding, or riskier, assets has breathed life back into a debt market left for dead a year ago.

With returns of 15.2% in the quarter and 20.3% in the past 12 months, Fisher Funds was the best performer in the two growth categories. The annual median growth fund return was 1.2% with a quarterly return of 10.8%, according to the survey.

South Island-based CBS Canterbury has been allocated a BB+/B counterparty credit rating with a stable outlook by agency Standard & Poor’s, giving it the opportunity to take up the government’s extension to the retail deposit guarantee scheme.

The Commerce Commission is chasing bigger fish in Auckland after it successfully prosecuted CMA Property Investments over its role in a property scheme in Invercargill which mislead people into believing they were buying their own homes.

Changes have been made to the original Government deposit guarantee scheme allowing firms to offer both guaranteed and non-guaranteed deposits.

Property finders, the people who match properties to potential investors, may cause the newly-active Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA) a few headaches in the coming months, with some confusion over whether or not they will need to be licensed under the new regime.

Allan Hawkins is set to swoop on Cynotech Holdings Ltd., the small finance company he chairs, after his private investment company announced plans for a takeover bid. The shares surged almost 32% to 14.5 cents.

New Zealanders are still optimistic about the state of the housing market, according to an ASB survey.

The deposit war amongst the banks over the past year has kept their profit margins under pressure according to reports by the central bank and auditor KPMG.

Commissioner of Financial Advisers Annabel Cotton explains why two Code Committee members were forced to resign.

Grosvenor Financial Services chief executive Allan Yeo surprised advisers last week at their end of year conference dinner when he said he would be taking his hands away from the day-to-day New Zealand business to focus on the company's strategic outlook.

The insurance industry needs to band together and grow the market rather than continue the in-fighting and tussling for a bigger share, according to the head of Asteron.

The Reserve Bank expects there will be some failures in finance companies covered by the government's deposit guarantee scheme as they come to grips with new prudential requirements due to come in next year.

Hanover Finance doubts it will be able to make full repayments to its investors under the debt restructuring plan due to the “rapid deterioration in the commercial property development market.”

Gold is not as safe an investment as many people think, with much of it gains this year offset by a plummeting US dollar, the unit in which the precious metal is priced.