Ella Somers

Journalist at Interest.co.nz

Featured in: Favicon

stuff.co.nz Favicon

nzherald.co.nz Favicon

odt.co.nz

interest.co.nz Favicon

businessdesk.co.nz Favicon

metropol.co.nz

Articles

Heartland isn’t 'out of the woods yet', according to Forsyth Barr

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Despite Heartland Group Holdings announcing arrears improvements in its motor finance portfolio, analysts at investment services firm Forsyth Barr say Heartland Bank is “not out of the woods yet”. In a research report published on Thursday, Andrew Harvey-Green and Benjamin Crozier have retained a neutral rating for Heartland Group Holdings, despite a “solid” third quarter update out of the bank earlier this week.
Seek says job volumes were flat in March but rose on a quarterly basis

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Employment marketplace SEEK says job ad volumes remained flat in March but ad volumes have risen for the first time quarter-on-quarter in over two years. In its latest NZ employment report released on Thursday, SEEK says that the quarterly rise of 2%, the first quarter-on-quarter increase since August 2022, indicated a stabilisation of the job ad market.
Food prices climb 0.5% in March, driven by groceries and drinks

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Food prices rose 0.5% in March, according to the latest Statistics New Zealand Selected Price Indexes (SPI), driven by higher prices for grocery food and non-alcoholic beverages. The March SPI out of Stats NZ shows food prices have risen 3.5% in the 12 months to March 2025 and 0.5% compared to a month earlier. Stats NZ’s SPI features goods comprising about 45% of the quarterly Consumers Price Index (CPI), the official measure of inflation tracked by the Reserve Bank.
What the Depositor Compensation Scheme means for your savings

1 week ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Personal Finance / news What is and and isn’t covered under the deposit insurance scheme launching in July 11th Apr 25, 11:10am by New Zealand's long awaited Depositor Compensation Scheme (DCS) launches in July. So just what will, and what won't be, covered by the DCS? The basic deal with the DCS is it will provide protection of up to $100,000 per eligible depositor, per licensed bank, building society, credit union and deposit taking finance company, in the event of deposit taker failure....
Woolworths NZ will pilot new store operating model and close two Auckland supermarkets

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Woolworths New Zealand is planning to pilot a new store operating model in its upper North Island stores from late May as part of a workforce restructure. The plan had been in a consulting period but the supermarket giant said on Thursday it had confirmed its operating model changes which now includes the closure of two Auckland stores.
Two more of NZ’s biggest banks cut mortgage test rates after OCR reduction

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Two of New Zealand’s largest banks quickly decreased their mortgage test rates following the Reserve Bank’s latest Official Cash Rate (OCR) cut. The RBNZ cut the OCR by 25 basis points from 3.75% to 3.50% on Wednesday, a widely expected move. While all of NZ’s bigger banks have been quick to respond to the OCR cut by trimming floating interest rates, ASB and Westpac are the only two to cut their mortgage test rates post the OCR announcement, so far.
FMA will be monitoring how long banks are taking to pass on OCR cuts

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has told Parliament’s banking inquiry it will be keeping a close eye on how banks pass on changes to the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to their customers. “I can assure you that the time taken to pass on changes in OCR to banks’ customers will be something that we will be paying very close attention to,” FMA Chief Executive Samantha Barrass informed MPs at Wednesday’s inquiry session.
Sharesies records drop in investor confidence and reduced holdings in individual companies

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Trading volumes on wealth platform Sharesies hit close to $3 billion in the March quarter despite investors starting to adopt a cautious mindset in the face of global market turmoil. The wealth platform released its latest quarterly index report on Tuesday, showing investor confidence on the platform slumped towards the end of the March quarter.
Parliamentary banking inquiry won’t hear from reinsurers

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Parliament's Finance and Expenditure Committee (FEC) isn’t planning to ask reinsurers to appear at the banking inquiry despite a suggestion from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment that they do so.
'ESG is a form of risk management, not a woke activity'

2 weeks ago | interest.co.nz | Ella Somers |Gareth Vaughan |David Hargreaves

Three-quarters of New Zealanders continue to expect their KiwiSaver and managed funds to be invested ethically and responsibly despite international and domestic criticism of environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks. This is according to new research out of ethical investment charity Mindful Money and the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA).