According to a new report from the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), ethical investments increased by at least 13 per cent over the year to December 2013.

We recently passed the halfway mark for 2014, and the global bull market in equities has continued its seemingly relentless advance, undaunted by geopolitical concerns.

Whenever I suggest ways for people to get ahead financially, the response from a vocal minority of readers is to moan, writes

As with so many "good ideas" from the investment banking sector the reality is, more often than not, that what is good for the industry is anything but good for mum and dad.

An American investor with US$500 million ($574 million) has been in New Zealand scouting for retirement village assets and meeting one influential banker.

It's a long way from netball hoops to jumping through the hoops of doing business in China but farmer Mike Wilkins is aiming as carefully as his former Silver Fern wife.

Want to invest in companies that put more women at the top? A new mutual fund lets you.

The conventional investment thinking suggests tipping your money into growth assets like you have when there is a longer time frame.

Readers of this column will know that it advocates achieving exposure to shares and other risky assets, in part, via passive funds.

Is silver being undermined by its association with gold?

KiwiSaver providers with more money invested in the New Zealand share market beat the pack last quarter, according to Morningstar.

The industry needs to win the public's trust before people will hand over their retirement savings in exchange for a regular income.

Despite all the time and effort going into behavioural finance these days it seems many investors still buy high and sell low.

What if the "power of positive thinking" is simply a numbing drumbeat that reinforces the positivity delusion, leading us to make blockheaded business and investment decisions?

Newer crowdfunding sites are giving investors the chance to earn something other than t-shirts and trial products - money.

NZ could have had a superannuation pot of gold worth $278b by next year had it kept a compulsory savings scheme set up in 1974, a financial industry body claims.

It seems that views as to what constitutes the best investment strategy are becoming more polarized.

Kiwis are conned out of their money every day of the week.

All Black captain Richie McCaw has been planning for retirement by investing in the aged-care industry.

It will take a few more disasters to move things along but we are certainly heading in the right direction.

Savers who keep their money in conservative KiwiSaver funds lag behind those in growth funds and risk having a smaller nest egg at retirement, warns Morningstar.

Sean Hughes rode into town and blew the bad guys away with the FMA arguably doing more in a few years than the Securities Commission accomplished in a decade, writes Brett Sheather.