Bluff marae- enjoying the artistry and digging for toheroas

Lucia Dore

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.

Continue reading
0
Tags:
New Zealand
Blog
  3539 Hits
  0 Comments

What the Emoluments Clause means for Donald Trump

Lucia Dore

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.

Continue reading
0
News
  1020 Hits
  0 Comments

New Line of Trump Condoms Boast Thinnest Skin Possible

Lucia Dore

I'm posting this because it made me laugh. It came out first on December 11, 2016,

NEW YORK — U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump held a press conference this morning to announce the manufacture of Trump Condoms, his latest namesake business venture, which will feature a gold foil-wrapped contraceptive touted as having the thinnest skin ever to hit the market.
Continue reading
0
News
  919 Hits
  0 Comments

Five strategies for practising PR in Europe

Lucia Dore

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.

Continue reading
0
Tags:
Public relations
Blog
  1391 Hits
  0 Comments

What communication do employees want in the face of technological upheaval

Lucia Dore

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….

Continue reading
0
Blog
  1698 Hits
  0 Comments

Lipsky: global economic outlook "favourable".

Lucia Dore

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.”

Continue reading
0
Blog
  1624 Hits
  0 Comments

Gaw Capital Partners, a private equity real estate fund management company, continues to acquire new properties and has raised five funds targeting the Greater China and Asia Pacific region since 2005.

Modulus

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.

Continue reading
0
News
  1005 Hits
  0 Comments

How to ensure good returns in the current environment

Modulus

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.

Continue reading
0
Blog
  1060 Hits
  0 Comments

Why HOW you Communicate makes all the difference.

Modulus

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.

Continue reading
0
Blog
  1083 Hits
  0 Comments

John Key, NZ PM, bows out: patriotic to the end

Modulus

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.

Continue reading
0
Blog
  1042 Hits
  0 Comments

OPEC: Saudi agrees to production reduction

Modulus

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

Continue reading
0
News
  1078 Hits
  0 Comments

Egypt and Saudi: never an easy relationship

Modulus

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.

Continue reading
0
Blog
  1505 Hits
  0 Comments

Constructive journalism: does it make a difference?

Modulus

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.

Continue reading
0
Blog
  1321 Hits
  0 Comments

Gaw Capital Partners and InvestUK Launch Innovative “Education Bond” for Chinese Students in the UK

Modulus

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.

Continue reading
0
News
  983 Hits
  0 Comments

Should NZ consider an “education bond” for Chinese students?

Modulus

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.

0
Blog
  1081 Hits
  0 Comments

The Saudi sheep deal: Was it worth it?

Modulus

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.

Continue reading
0
News
  1471 Hits
  0 Comments

Why do people forget that Donald Trump is a successful businessman?

Modulus

Why do you think he’s a successful businessman? Because he says so?

Here’s how Donald Trump made his money: he got a $1 million loan from his father, and then borrowed an additional $19 million against his future inheritance from banks. So his father’s wealth allowed him to start with $20 million in capital that Trump himself had done nothing to earn (he’d eventually inherit $200 million from his father.)

Continue reading
0
Blog
  1217 Hits
  0 Comments

Gaw Capital Partners Invests in naked Hub, the Shanghai-based “Coworking Space” Network, through Its Fund

Modulus

Investment in coworking space platform complements Gaw Capital Partners’ successful track record in creative office investments

SHANGHAI, November 1, 2016 – Gaw Capital Partners today announced the completion of the investment in naked Hub, the Shanghai-based network of coworking spaces through one of the funds under its management.

Continue reading
0
News
  1012 Hits
  0 Comments

10 Popular Fintech Blogs and Forums To Follow

Modulus

Fintech Blogs and Forums give you fresh and unique analysis of trending events in the Fintech industry. Fintech is heating up every day in workplaces, events, and homes. Some people ask us occasionally: “What are your favorite sources of latest Fintech news?” If you want to keep up with the Fintech industry, the following are our 10 popular specialist Fintech blogs and forum websites to keep you updated frequently with high quality content.

Continue reading
0
News
  1084 Hits
  0 Comments

Two months After Brexit: What is happening to the London fintech sector?

Modulus

In June, we published an article on advantages and disadvantages of Brexit in the fintech industry. Now, two months after Brexit, let us look at what is happening in the London fintech sector.

The UK has been a leading fintech hub, supported by the UK government investment initiatives helping investment in the rapid growing sector through the EIS, SEIS, Startup Loans and more. However, this could easily change, according to many startups investors and executives, some of whom are questioning their future in the UK.

Continue reading
0
News
  1024 Hits
  0 Comments
       
34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43