What are your Investment Rules?

[Snoopy]

I'm speaking from a book value per share vs market value per share. Drain the profits in the company and so shall you drain the market share price (there's no way around that).

I agree that in the medium term what you say above is correct, in a general sense.

If you seek companies that pay consistent dividends, then seek those that are mature companies with NO market growth (ie utilities). But that's not the story we see in NZ because it's well advertised with brokerage firms like Macquarie where investing in NZ equities is "all about the dividends".

The NZX has plenty of utility companies that you can invest in that are 'all about dividends'. Not sure of the point you are trying to make with those two sentences.

No one ever questions the shareholder who does NOT want a dividend because that triggers a tax consequence. No one has thought to say if the capital gain of the share keeps growing, then why not sell a portion of the shares when ever they WANT to elect a return on the investment. But what am I to know?

Making a profit will generate a tax consequence for a company, whether or not that profit is paid out as a dividend. So what you are suggesting is that a company that is making a profit should buy a company that is making a loss to extinguish that profit and the consequent tax liability?

I get you idea of taking a capital profit in small annual chunks rather than receiving that same money via a regular annual dividend. But the imputation credit system we have in NZ means that such a choice is 'tax neutral' for NZ shareholders. In NZ, there is no tax advantage in behaving as you suggest. In the US, with US investors investing in US companies, I accept your strategy may have merit.

NZ financial advisers know nothing about taxation because from ALL of the ones i've spoke to on the phone in NZ, they tell me, "well you'll need to speak to a tax adviser" which is something very wrong. All qualified CFA CPA advisers in N. America must have a full understanding of tax minimsation for their clients because taxation is such an integral part of investing and retirement planning. No fool in NZ should have to be stuck paying 2 sets of fees for financial advice.

I don't class myself as a cheerleader for NZ's financial advisors. But I don't think your criticism here is fair or accurate. You must have asked a very convoluted question to elicit the phone responses you have received. I am sure that if you had gone in to see these advisors in person, then you would have found a much more informed response forthcoming. Having said this, while I would expect NZ Financial Advisors to have a good grasp of NZ tax laws and their consequences, I wouldn't expect them to be able to advise on specific overseas tax issues.

If you have questions on NZ tax laws, the IRD website technical section for tax practitioners has all the information there is to know. Sometimes you have to go to the also on line 'Tax Information Bulletins' for a specific ruling. There is no charge for accessing these resources.

Also it's not about how quick NZ companies can mature in NZ because likewise, they can fade away as quick and why should investors take that kind of risk. You know a small market (that the NZX is), also means small liquidity = the greater risk for the multi-millionaire that can't move in or out quick enough to change their position. It's more like get all the small investors in, and let them watch 95% of the mix of small companies fail.

Investing in small high growth start ups is a high risk return game all over the world. Often an 'angel investor' selling down to let in a lot more smaller investors in is the only way small investors can participate in these business ventures. These ventures still remain high risk return though. You can't blame the ownership structure and 'big boys in the know selling out' for every NZ start up company failure.

Best to stick with buying houses - at least there's a for sure way path of keeping all those gains tax free.

No it isn't. Contrary to popular belief, you can lose capital by investing in property.

SNOOPY