Hey everyone, hope you're doing well!
We’re now into spring, which is brilliant. I’m definitely enjoying the slightly longer days compared to what we’ve had recently.
Like I’m sure is the case for plenty of you, we had a challenging month on the home front with illness. Our daughter was home twice for a week each time with what felt like the same flu virus. I’ve spoken with many clients who’ve either had it themselves or had family members catch it. Hopefully you’ve managed to dodge it. With warmer days and more sunshine arriving, it feels like we’re coming to the end of that cycle.
As mentioned previously, we’ve seen the OCR fall and banks’ interest rates have dropped accordingly. We’re now looking at close to 4.7% for a one-year fixed rate. The interesting part is the commentary around future movements:
∙ Another OCR cut is expected on 8 October
∙ Possibly another cut before the end of 2025
∙ Fixed rates might drop to around 4.5%
∙ Bank competition could drive rates even lower
Last month I mentioned I was heading to the Sydney Marathon, and I’m pleased to report it was an excellent weekend. Despite feeling run-down and unwell in the lead-up (thanks to the bugs going around), I woke up on race day feeling surprisingly good. I ended up setting a personal best by about two minutes, which I’m pretty stoked about at age 40 – especially considering my previous best was set 12 years ago!
We also had quite a few people download our app last month, which is fantastic. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’d love for you to download it and provide any feedback. We’re making a couple of tweaks to improve the experience.
As mentioned last month, we’re planning to start onboarding more member benefits and discounts. We’ll profile these in our monthly newsletter so you can see what’s available to you, your friends and whānau.
Looking forward to catching up with you soon.
Kieran Sutherland
Financial and Business Adviser
p. 03 377 3693