Westmount Financial

The importance of diversification...

The importance of diversification...

Diversification, spreading your money across a range of different assets rather than putting it all into one place, is one of the core principles of investment risk management. That's because investment returns from different assets are never consistent…

How to achieve investment success in 2021...

How to achieve investment success in 2021...

Elon Musk, the 49-year-old founder of U.S.-listed electric vehicle maker Tesla, generated global headlines once again last week when he achieved the status as the world's richest person….

The perks of staying invested...

The perks of staying invested...

Around this time last year, as with every year, forecasts of how investment markets would perform in 2020, were in abundance…Read on

2021 Outlook...

2021 Outlook...

Can investment returns hold up? Here is a summary of key insights and views on the investment outlook in simple point form…

Approaching the dawn...

Approaching the dawn...

COVID-19 has completely, and mercilessly, dictated the direction of economies and financial markets through most of this year. So, as we rapidly approach the end of an extremely unpredictable and volatile year, what's in store for 2021?

2020: From Pandemic to Recovery...

2020: From Pandemic to Recovery...

2020 didn’t exactly turn out the way I or many expected a year ago…

The ins and outs of ethical investing...

The ins and outs of ethical investing...

With growing concerns about climate change and other environmental and social justice issues, more and more investors are opting for ethical investing…

Where are we in the recovery now?

Where are we in the recovery now?

From the get-go back in March, as coronavirus lockdowns hit, there has been much debate about what this recession would be like: how deep and long would it be?

The trouble with intuition...

The trouble with intuition...

Cognitive bias has been of particular interest to the investing community and long lists of biases – confirmation bias, anchoring, the recency effect and dozens of others – are now the stock-in-trade of beginner investors worldwide…

World Cup of Investing...

World Cup of Investing...

It’s been a banner year for New Zealand sport, with a world championship win in women’s netball, the narrowest of world cup losses in men’s cricket and an upcoming attempt by the All Blacks to win an historic third consecutive rugby world cup…

2018-19: A rough ride, but ok in the end...

2018-19: A rough ride, but ok in the end...

The past financial year saw a roller coaster ride for investors. Share markets plunged into Christmas only to rebound over the last six months. This note reviews the last financial year and takes a look at the investment outlook for 2019-20…

Australian Housing Downturn: How Bad?

Australian Housing Downturn: How Bad?

The housing cycle and house prices always incite high interest in Australia. Until recently it was all about surging prices and poor affordability – particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. Over the last year it’s turned into how far prices will fall and what’s the impact on the economy….