Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post / Business

Shelley Hanna: Can my KiwiSaver survive a war?

By Shelley Hanna
Northern Advocate (Whangarei)·
3 Mar, 2022 09:17 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
NAG 24Mar15 - OUT NOT IN: It's time for students to take some money out of the piggy bank. PICTURE / FILE WGP 01Jul15 - RGP 31Jul15 - Kelly Te Ngahue talks about the importance of teachin

NAG 24Mar15 - OUT NOT IN: It's time for students to take some money out of the piggy bank. PICTURE / FILE WGP 01Jul15 - RGP 31Jul15 - Kelly Te Ngahue talks about the importance of teachin

Question: I am worried about the situation in Ukraine. I have been watching my KiwiSaver go down in value. What should I do? I am 66 years old and I am invested in a conservative fund. I am no longer working and this is my retirement nest egg.

Answer: The situation in Ukraine has been developing over the past few weeks, with the prospect of hostilities causing jitters in financial markets. Rising inflation and higher interest rates boosted uncertainty.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, sharemarkets around the world fell sharply while commodity prices — including oil — rose.
Markets do not like uncertainty and they usually fall in response to the threat of war. However, once hostilities are underway markets factor in the situation and share prices typically rebound.
The conflict in Ukraine will have various economic and political consequences. Economic sanctions may provoke a retaliatory response from Russia.
There will be an impact on commodity prices, particularly oil. A rise in the price of oil drives inflation but reduces discretionary spending. One possible outcome is that central banks may not increase interest rates as rapidly or as high. While news and images of the conflict are distressing, the impact on the global economy is unlikely to be significant.
There are many companies and sectors that will not be affected by the conflict at all. Active fund managers will take the opportunity to buy more shares at cheaper prices. We saw a similar drop in share markets in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. After the initial fall, sharemarkets recovered.
Did you decide to invest your retirement savings in your KiwiSaver fund to achieve a higher return than bank term deposits? Your KiwiSaver is diversified across a range of bonds, property and share market investments. You can find out more by looking up your fund in the Sorted Fundfinder tool, or reading the information sent to you by your KiwiSaver provider.
Investment markets have had a good run over the past few years, and many KiwiSaver investors are not used to seeing their savings go down in value. Are you in the right fund for your risk tolerance? According to the Sorted risk profile questionnaire, a conservative investor can experience annual returns in the range of -5.5per cent to 7.4per cent after fees, taxes and inflation.
Would you be comfortable with a drop of -5.5per cent over 12 months? It may be wise to put some of your savings into a cash fund (or bank term deposit) and treat your KiwiSaver as a longer-term investment.
Once an investor has chosen their investment in line with their risk profile, they must stay the course and not be tempted to cash up every time the market falls. Cashing up will simply crystalise their losses.
A far better strategy is to top up investments when markets fall, to take advantage of the lower prices. That way you will feel that you are in control, and it will give you a better outcome in the long term. KiwiSaver investors who are contributing regularly will get the benefit of lower prices at times like this.

  • • Shelley Hanna is a financial adviser with Peak Portfolio Management Ltd, which holds a licence FSP702451 issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice services. Disclosure information is available at peak.net.nz or call 06 8703838. The information provided in this article is of a general nature and should not be relied on as a recommendation to invest in a financial product. Send your KiwiSaver questions to
    shelley.hanna@peak.net.nz

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

How Fonterra and Zespri are navigating US tariff hurdles

Premium
Opinion

Todd McClay: The roadmap for NZ's global agribusiness leadership

Premium
OpinionMark Lister

Opinion: Limited relief ahead for NZ mortgage borrowers


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Premium
How Fonterra and Zespri are navigating US tariff hurdles
Rotorua Daily Post

How Fonterra and Zespri are navigating US tariff hurdles

As well as tariffs, a whole range of factors go into negotiations with markets

23 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Todd McClay: The roadmap for NZ's global agribusiness leadership
Opinion

Todd McClay: The roadmap for NZ's global agribusiness leadership

23 Jul 04:58 PM
Premium
Premium
Opinion: Limited relief ahead for NZ mortgage borrowers
OpinionMark Lister

Opinion: Limited relief ahead for NZ mortgage borrowers

20 Jul 04:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP