Author Archives: Lance Wiggs

In October 2013 I wrote about “Valuing Xero in one hour“, and (although it had a bug) came up with a forecast that justified the then $2.2 billion valuation of Xero with a Weighted Average Cost of Capital of 18%. That forecast was, necessarily, very basic, and the exercise was intended to show how SaaS […]

Dear Chair Congratulations on your appointment. You are now chairing the organisation responsible, by a substantial margin, for the highest number of preventable deaths and injuries in New Zealand. Your personal impact as chair is vital for New Zealand. We need your leadership to guide New Zealand to become the safest country in the world, […]

Uber released their S1, their prospectus for their IPO today. The biggest concern for potential investors is probably their falling growth rates, which makes it hard to model a future where the company can produce significant earnings to justify its valuation. The table below shows how the growth rates have punched. Year Revenue Trip Numbers […]

In California the giant electricity utility PG&E requested bankruptcy protection. In New Zealand a former Prime Minister and her previous colleagues around the Board table of Mainzeal have been fined $36 million – although both sides are appealing that. Also in New Zealand Lime was forced to remove their electric scooters from the streets of […]

There’s a lot of work going on at the moment trying to address the funding needs of hundreds of companies that are emerging from New Zealand. Investors, groups of investors and funds are all lifting their sights, raising and contributing more money as the success of the sector becomes increasingly obvious. To be blunt people […]

Melon Health is a CDC approved provider of digital Diabetes Prevention Programs across the USA. Here is a video promoting that service.   You can help Punakaiki Fund Limited invest in Melon Health by subscribing to the latest retail offer. Read the PDS to find out more. You can invest online.

I’ve been outed as someone who isn’t entirely positive about the new Lime electric scooters in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. There are a few reasons for the, but first let’s agree on one thing – the electric scooters (and electric bikes) do bring a lot of joy. It’s difficult not to grin when you ride […]

Disclaimer: Punakaiki Fund Limited has lodged a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for a Public Offer. Please read the PDS if you are considering an investment.  Yale Investment Office have just announced their latest results (good, especially with the lower risk they carry) and their target asset allocation for 2019. I always find it interesting comparing their portfolio construction to […]

I have, somewhat randomly, made it a ongoing task to reply to climate change denial comments and articles on NBR.co.nz. Thankfully over the years we’ve seen the quality of the writing in NBR and the comments themselves improve, but there are still a few writers or commenters who seem to thrive on denying climate change. […]

We’ve just posted two new jobs for LWCM – one senior and one junior. The Investment Manager role will be delegated significant responsibility, and the right person will eventually lead a team of people. We have a lot to do and this person will get it done. The person we hire could come from a […]

The current Super Rugby NZ team names are appalling: Crusaders: A name celebrating religion based genocide from centuries ago (Thanks to @sportsfreakconz for that definition) Chiefs: White people’s interpretation of a Māori culture across the region. Perhaps next time we could actually ask local iwi what name they would like to choose. Hurricanes: We don’t even have […]