Shares and ETFs
Shares and exchange traded funds can provide access to companies, sectors and markets. Lifelong Wealth can help you understand the available choices and the risks that come with investing.
Shares and ETFs — what is the difference?
Both give you access to companies and markets, but they work in different ways. Understanding the difference is the first step before choosing either one.
Shares
A share is a slice of ownership in a single company. Its value moves with that company’s performance, its sector and the wider market — concentrated, but transparent.
ETFs
An exchange traded fund is a single fund that holds many investments — shares, bonds or other assets. Buying one ETF can spread your money across a market or sector in a single trade.
The details that shape your outcome
We explain how shares and ETFs work, the markets that may be available, costs, currency considerations, diversification, market movements and liquidity. We also help you understand how a selected investment may fit alongside your other financial arrangements.
How they work
Buying, holding and selling — how orders are placed, how prices are set during market hours, and what happens when you want out.
Available markets
Which markets and exchanges you can access through us, and what that means for trading hours and the investments on offer.
Costs
Brokerage, fund fees and any other charges — so the cost of investing is clear before you place your first trade.
Currency considerations
How currency movements can add to — or subtract from — your returns when investing in markets priced in another currency.
Diversification
Spreading your money across companies, sectors and markets, and how ETFs can help — or fail to help — depending on what they hold.
Market movements and liquidity
Prices move in both directions, sometimes sharply. We talk through volatility and how easily an investment can be sold when you need to.
Specific choices come through conversation, not a catalogue
You will not find a wall of company or fund names on this page. A list of names without context invites exactly the wrong decision — picking what is familiar rather than what fits.
Instead, we discuss your goals, time horizon and existing arrangements first, then look at specific opportunities together — in the same way a current bond or term deposit is presented when it is actually available.
How it fits with everything else
A selected investment should sit comfortably alongside your KiwiSaver, term deposits and other arrangements. We look at the whole picture, not one trade in isolation.
Understanding the risks
Market risk, concentration, currency and liquidity are discussed openly — before you invest, not after the market has moved against you.
Discuss shares and ETFs with us.
Tell us what you are considering and we will explain how the choices work, what they cost and how they may fit alongside your other financial arrangements.