A majority of readers would now vote to REMAIN in the European Union bucking the way the region voted six months ago in the referendum, according to a new Express & Star survey.
The poll – the biggest online news questionnaire this paper has carried out – saw nearly 10,000 people respond to five questions on what readers thought of Brexit since the historic vote.
How do people or companies with vested interests spread ignorance and obfuscate knowledge? Georgina Kenyon finds there is a term which defines this phenomenon.
In 1979, a secret memo from the tobacco industry was revealed to the public. Called the Smoking and Health Proposal, and written a decade earlier by the Brown & Williamson tobacco company, it revealed many of the tactics employed by big tobacco to counter “anti-cigarette forces”.
– by Lucia Dore
Mats Anderson, former chief executive at one of Sweden’s four pension funds, AP4, said that “sustainable investments are drivers for higher returns at a lower risk” and that “there is no conflict between returns and sustainability”. He also explained that the fund has three factors that come together to produce sustainability- environment, social and governance (ESG) but that “it all starts with governance”.
Recently, I went with my Te Reo Maori class to the marae in Bluff, rated one of the best in New Zealand for its artistry. The main artist was Cliff Whiting, who also worked on Te Papa (NZ's national museum). It was a great experience, especially appreciating the powhiri (welcoming ceremony) and learning all about Maori culture. I also loved going to Oreti Beach- on the outskirts of Invercargill- ostensibly to get toheroas (a type of shellfish you dig in the sand for) since I grew up there and we used to go the beach often, sometimes to get toheroas when it was the season. You have to dig deep and quickly for the shellfish, which are generally below the shoreline, and to avoid the tide coming in and undoing all your hard work.
Here are some photos.
Lawyers find Trump in violation of Emoluments Clause. The president-elect's business holdings present significant problems under the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, according to a new study from Norman Eisen, Richard Painter, and Laurence Tribe. Should Trump refuse to divest from his businesses? The authors conclude that the Electoral College, Congress, and the Supreme Court are within their rights to deny or remove him from the White House.
I'm posting this because it made me laugh. It came out first on December 11, 2016,
This article is the fourth in a series adapted from Alaimo’s book “Pitch, Tweet, or Engage on the Street: How to Practice Global Public Relations and Strategic Communication.”
As part of the research for “Pitch, Tweet, or Engage on the Street: How to Practice Global Public Relations and Strategic Communication,” my new book on how to practice public relations in countries and cultures around the world, I conducted interviews with senior communicators in 31 nations about best local practices.
This article on the impact on how communication impacts technological change that recently crossed my desk is an interesting read for everyone.
Ann Pilkington | December 6, 2016
The answer is: not always what they are given. So found marketing executive Charlotte Wallis when she picked this theme for her CIPR Internal Communication Diploma project. Over to Charlotte to explain more….
At the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) held in Auckland from 8-11 November, economist and former managing director of the IMF John Lipsky debunked the arguments put forth by others, such as Bob Prince, Bridgewater associates, and Massimiliano Castelli, UBS Asset Management (see previous blogs) that the world economy would see low interest rates and low growth for the foreseeable future. “Despite the alternatives and the pessimism, the outlook, and trend analysis, the consensus forecast isn’t that bad,” he said, adding that “if it [an improvement in the global economy] can be achieved in a structural sense it will start to improve the performance and expectations that I think is going to set the stage ..for a much more favourable outlook ahead.”
Here's an article from The Economist which, while talking about John Key's resignation, states that NZ is "one of the most successful countries in the world. While this is debatable, there is no doubt that Key has had successes- namely international recognition- along with failures, housing, immigration and the environment. We have yet to see whether the new Prime Minister, John English, will have the same success.
The firm also manages opportunistic funds in Vietnam and the US along with a hospitality fund targeting the Pan Asia region. Additionally, Gaw Capital also provides services for separate account direct investments in the global markets. Since 2005, Gaw Capital Partners has raised equity of USD$ 7.3 billion and commands assets of USD$ 12.8 billion under management.
Here is a press release on the company’s latest acquisition.
The International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) held their Eighth Annual Conference in Auckland, New Zealand, from 8-11 of November. One of the issues the international conference addressed is how SWFs could ensure high enough returns in a low growth, low-interest rate environment.
Ensuring you can speak with confidence and competence
A great deal of time (and frequently money) can be spent working on the content of a speech, structuring sentences and phrases, re-writing and honing it. This includes selecting the appropriate alliteration and assonance chosen to enhance the effect, using quotations and examples and the rule of three- this is a writing principle that suggests that things that come in threes are funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things — slavishly adhered to.
John Key made one of his last speeches as Prime Minister of New Zealand at the International Sovereign Wealth Fund Forum (IWSWF) on 8-11 November. He made his shock resignation announcement about one month later on 5 December, and will step down a week after that.
Everyone had an early start that morning, gathering to listen to Key at a breakfast meeting at 8am on 10 November at Auckland’s ANZ Viaduct Events Centre. He was certainly more engaging than I had expected, was better in person than on television, could read an audience and knew his stuff.
The 171st Meeting of the Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was held in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday, 30th November 2016.
In a press release issued by OPEC: “It observed that global economic growth forecasts were reasonable for both 2016 and 2017, at 2.9% and 3.1% respectively, that non-OPEC supply is expected to contract by 0.8 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2016, before returning to growth of
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have never had an easy relationship. For the most part though, Egypt has always supported Saudi Arabia, and vice versa, except when the Morsi government took charge. A Sunni country being led by the Muslim Brotherhood was not Saudi Arabia’s idea of loyalty.
I’ve been sent some background on the Constructive Journalism Project, a UK initiative that aims to innovate and strengthen journalism by developing methods for journalists to bring more positive and solution-focused elements into conventional reporting. I hadn’t heard about it before.
Bonds to raise up to £1 billion of UK inward investment for affordable housing and other priority infrastructure
Shanghai, November 3, 2016 – Gaw Capital Partners and InvestUK today signed an MoU to launch the “Education Bond,” an innovative investment product that allows Chinese and other international students to invest in the UK and gain Permanent Residence.
I was interested to come across this “Education Bond” that is being launched in the UK- between private equity firm, Gaw Capital, and InvestUK. It aims to allow Chinese, and other foreign students, to invest in property in the UK and thereby acquire permanent residence.
This made me think about the appropriateness of such a “bond” in New Zealand. Some 33,000 Chinese student visas have been granted in this country, as at July 26 2016, according to an article by Radio NZ.
The article also states: “Immigration New Zealand figures showed it approved 33,425 visa applications from Chinese students in the 12 months to the end of June.
That figure was up from 29,880 in the preceding 12-month period and a significant increase from a low of 21,777 in 2009/10.Annual study visa approvals for China had not been so high since 2006/07, when 34,448 were approved.”
Surely, such a bond would be the way New Zealand should go? But imagine if it were approved.There would certainly be an uproar. The question, however, whether it would be the right thing to do.
The New Zealand Government has been embroiled in the long running saga known as the Saudi sheep deal. The auditor-general, Lyn Provost, has taken about a year to investigate the deal, principally looking at whether all the facts about the transaction were sufficient. Finally, she acknowledged that although there were “significant shortcomings” in the report to Cabinet about the deal it was not corrupt.