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BusinessAugust 3, 2018

Apple reaches $1 trillion – and you’re an investor!

Kiwi on the phone

Youth of New Zealand rejoice! Apple has become the most valuable company to ever exist and we’re all investors. 

Apple has become the first public company to reach a market value of US$1 trillion this morning – great news for Kiwis, who collectively own about $400 million of Apple shares through the New Zealand Superfund.

New Zealand’s largest offshore investment, and the darling of the superfund’s tech-heavy investment strategy, Apple is up 22% this year on the back of Q3 earnings which surpassed projections by more than USD$1 billion. Total revenue was upwards of USD$53 billion for the quarter. 

The performance of the New Zealand Superfund has huge implications for the future of this country and is particularly crucial for young New Zealanders who face the prospect of otherwise starving in retirement as our parents simply refuse to die. 

According to Statistics New Zealand, the population aged 65 and older will surpass one million in the next decade – up from 550,000 in 2009. That same cohort will grow as a proportion of New Zealand’s total population, increasing from 13% in 2009 to more than 20%. By the late 2050s, one in every four New Zealanders will be 65 years or older.

Smoking rates are going down, quality of healthcare is going up, and life expectancy is steadily increasing across all demographics.

MEANS TESTING?! HELL NO. PHOTO: GETTY

That’s a lot of old, sick, and expensive Kiwis coming down the pipeline. And, because we don’t means test super, the same boomers that are living like feudal landholders right now are going to be eligible to suck from the superfund teat regardless of their giant portfolios.

Retirement is a political landmine, and governmental management of the superfund in the past has been hamfisted at best. Under National the government halted contributions for almost a decade, losing out on billions of dollars in returns as the fund consistently beat the market. Heading into the last election Jacinda Ardern reversed Labour’s position and swore to resign rather than raise the age of eligibility, kicking her young constituents right in the shins in the process.

Though the superfund promises to invest ethically, our future largely depends on collectively looking away from the slaves and suicide factories on which Apple built its empire. And anyway, our next biggest offshore investments are essentially a who’s who of ethically questionable tech giants: Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, and Facebook round out the top five, combining for approximately $1.5 billion in New Zealand investment.

So get out there, buy an iPhone, get a MacBook, tell Siri you love her – it’s the patriotic thing to do.


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