Trying to nab tickets for Lorde’s New Zealand tour? It pays to watch where you’re buying your tickets from, says Chris Schulz.

Lorde emailed me on Tuesday night. Well, not me specifically. I’m not that important. I don’t personally know Lorde. But she emailed everyone in her fan club database. Yes, I’m a member. Yes, I’m 43 years old. Don’t @ me.

“Dancing together in summertime” wrote Lorde in the subject line. Summer’s hard to imagine right now after waking up to 2-degree chills and frozen grass, but sure. Pass the fennel bong.

Inside that email was the pre-sale code to buy tickets to Lorde’s upcoming New Zealand tour. With six dates in outdoor venues, it’s the pop star’s biggest tour here yet, all shows being played on the back of her summery new single ‘Solar Power’ and an accompanying album of the same name, due for release on August 20.

Lorde hasn’t played any concerts here since a couple of intimate gigs at The Powerstation in 2017. She’s our biggest ever pop star, one who has headlined huge international festivals, including Coachella and Lollapalooza. After Six60’s recent monster trek, this is the largest local tour by any musician since Covid-19 shut down our borders last year. Demand for her tickets, as you’d expect, is pretty high.

Perhaps that’s what led Lorde to include a subtle warning, alongside the pre-sale code word, in her email. “You know the drill,” she wrote. “Good luck out there.” Those words sound like the tired sigh of a musician who knows what her fans are up against, someone who knows she can’t do anything about it. It is how it is.

It took seconds for Lorde’s pre-sale tickets to start getting snapped up when they went on sale yesterday. It took just a few more seconds for those same tickets to pop up elsewhere too.

Google “Lorde tickets” and lo and behold, the first website listed is our good old concert ticket companion, Viagogo. Like a pesky virus you just can’t kill, Viagogo keeps on keeping on. Yes, it’s the same Viagogo that messed up many a night for Adele’s New Zealand fanbase in 2017. It also caused havoc for Ed Sheeran’s Australasian fans in 2018.

It’s the same Viagogo that the Commerce Commission took to court and, in March, 2020, claimed a small victory over. That court case is still ongoing, but the result forced Viagogo to remove all claims that its tickets are “100 per cent guaranteed”. The Swiss company has finally admitted that its business also falls under New Zealand law. This is important.

“Until now Viagogo has said it is not answerable to the courts here, which has led to considerable expense and delay for the commission. We think a company that sells New Zealand event tickets to New Zealand consumers should fall under New Zealand law, and we are pleased that Viagogo now accepts that too,” Mary-Anne Borrowdale, the commission’s general counsel for consumer and competition, said at the time.

That capitulation hasn’t stopped Viagogo from selling tickets. It’s offering plenty of them. Click on that Google result and you’ll be directed to a page that looks entirely legitimate. It lists all of Lorde’s New Zealand tour dates in order: a headlining performance at Christchurch’s really rather good Electric Avenue festival on February 26, followed by shows in Nelson, Wellington, Havelock North, New Plymouth and Auckland. Want to go to one of her Australian tour dates? They’re listed too.

Look a little closer, and you’ll see a few things are awry. Sure, the concert dates are correct. But some of the smaller details are not. The capacity at Wellington’s Days Bay is listed at just 250 people. I’m not sure what the exact crowd capacity is, but I can assure you Hutt City is not putting traffic management and electric ferry plans in place for just 250 people. Havelock North’s Black Barn Vineyards’ capacity is also listed at 150, when it’s closer to 1800.

That’s not all. Lorde’s listed as playing Western Springs Stadium with a capacity of 50,000. The capacity is correct, but the venue’s wrong. She’s playing on Western Springs’ Outerfield, the grassed area you can see as you drive past the venue. That’s closer to 20,000 people, less than half that size.

Thanks to Lorde’s email, I managed to get into a 10-minute queue and purchase two tickets to her Auckland show when they went on sale at midday for $109.90 each, plus another $8.46 for payment processing and levies, and another $5 for order processing. Complaining about those fees is another story entirely. I’m not doing that here, but they are outrageous.

On Viagogo, those same tickets are $175 each, plus fees. Other shows have an even bigger mark-up. In Wellington, they’re $196, nearly double the original price of $99.90. In New Plymouth, they’re $292, nearly triple. After VIP tickets? I can’t find any available in the official Ticketmaster pre-sales, but on Viagogo they’re offered in several venues for $1349 each.

As I clicked around Viagogo, I noticed something else. Urgent messages kept flashing up. “Sixteen people viewed this event in the past hour,” read one. “Last tickets remaining in section,” said another. “Demand for this event: High” and “Get it or regret it” are others. All of these are psychological tools being used to push unsuspecting ticket buyers into making a rushed decision.

It works. ‘Viagogo still offering worthless tickets to unsuspecting customers,’ reads a Stuff headline from earlier this year. It’s a story about a Wellington woman who bought worthless tickets on Viagogo for an already sold out Russell Howard comedy show. It took her weeks to get her money back.

By now, it may sound like I’m beating a dead horse with a drumstick, but it’s worth saying again: don’t use Viagogo, even if you’re desperate. “We still urge ticket buyers to purchase from official ticket websites,” says Borrowdale. “Avoid clicking on the first internet search result you see for an event. Scroll down the page and find the official ticket outlet or, if you aren’t sure, visit the artist’s or organiser’s website to find out who is the official ticket seller.”

Or, even if you’re a jaded 43-year-old like me, sign up to receive an artist’s newsletters. Honestly, some of Lorde’s recent musings have been a bit crap. One talked about a poolside party platter that included a goat’s cheese called ‘Devotion’ and Castelvetrano olives. That’s not good content. But it’s worth it to get emails containing secret concert codes.

Because when you a buy a concert ticket, you want to be able to use it. You know the drill. Good luck out there.

Updated July 6, 2021, with the following statement from Viagogo:

“It is perfectly okay for someone to resell their ticket through viagogo if they wish to, and these statements from promoters are just a scare tactic by the event organizer to control the sale of tickets. We encourage event organizers to contact us directly using our event organizer portal, should they have any queries or concerns relating to their event. In this instance we have noted the correction regarding the VIP section and have adjusted the listing accordingly. 

viagogo does not set ticket prices, these are set by the people who use the platform to resell their tickets. It is made clear that prices may be listed as higher or lower than the face value, depending on demand, so that all users are aware of this fact prior to their purchase. Tickets that are listed at unreasonable prices get the most media attention but rarely, if ever, sell. 

The viagogo guarantee ensures our buyers receive valid tickets and in the extremely rare case of a problem (no more than 1% of tickets sold worldwide in 2019 had any issues), viagogo steps in to find comparable replacements – or offer a full refund. Irrespectively, there is no incentive for sellers to sell fraudulent tickets on our website because viagogo does not pay a seller until a buyer has successfully gained entry into the event.”

Got some savings you want to turn into a secure financial future? A managed fund could be the answer.

With plummeting interest rates and sky-high house prices coinciding with the rise of DIY investing, saving and growing personal wealth for the future has recently taken on a whole new look. And with the Covid-19 pandemic taking KiwiSaver balances on a rollercoaster ride this past year, many New Zealanders have been challenging themselves to sharpen their financial chops, particularly through once difficult investment channels (such as overseas stocks) that have since started to emerge as mainstream options.

But for some, the knowledge, time and composure required to make significant decisions about what to do with their savings is too much to take on. That’s why the managed fund exists. As the name suggests, a managed fund is an investment fund taken care of by a team of experts and made up of a pool of different kinds of assets like cash, bonds, commercial property and shares. If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because most New Zealanders already own a type of managed fund: their KiwiSaver. Just as KiwiSaver is designed to help New Zealanders save, the same goes for regular managed funds, except they don’t have to be locked away for retirement or a first home. 

Managed funds have experienced a surge in popularity in the last few years. Kiwi Wealth, which publicly launched its managed funds almost two years ago, oversees more than $200 million for more than 5,000 customers in New Zealand. Close to half that business has flooded in over the last five months, showing the momentum behind managed funds has never been stronger.

Managed funds are designed to make your money work harder for you while making someone else do the hard work. At places like Kiwi Wealth, a team of experts is on hand to make the big investment decisions so you don’t have to. Your money is spread across a diverse portfolio of investments, meaning the opportunity to grow your money is balanced against the risk that comes with investing – and all you need is $100 to get started. 

We’ve written a thorough explainer of how managed funds work, so now we wanted to explore why they’re such an important product in the current economic environment. 

The low interest environment

Keeping your money in a savings account or term deposit used to make a lot of financial sense – it was a safe option that brought in decent returns, and meant you always had funds on hand for the unexpected. It was a simple and straightforward way of investing for your future, but a lot’s changed since then. 

Plummeting interest rates have meant returns for these options have taken a turn, while even the most risk-averse managed funds have recently proved their value. As a guide, the returns (after fees and before tax) of Kiwi Wealth’s three funds annualised over a two-year period was 4.83% for conservative, 12.15% for balanced, and 17.68% for growth.*

Kiwi Wealth estimates that up to $13 billion which would otherwise be going into the pockets of savers is currently being lost in the low-interest environment. In one calculation, it found a $10,000 investment in a two-year term deposit would result in a little over $10,600.*

“Lowering interest rates frees up more money to spend on goods and services in the economy to keep things ticking along, but for people who’ve typically relied on savings accounts and term deposits, low interest rates have proven really problematic,” says Harley Calder, product manager at Kiwi Wealth.

“You should at least be getting above inflation and at the moment it’s well below that after tax. So in real terms, the money’s going backwards.”

For those new to investing, managed funds are a far less risky choice than many investment alternatives. But while your money will be directly managed on your behalf, Calder explains the three fund options allow you to focus on different outcomes based on your financial plans and immediate needs.

“If you’re looking for a return that’s likely to be better than a term deposit over a shorter investment timeframe, then a conservative fund might be suitable for you if you can’t afford to have large movements in your account balance. Whereas if you’ve got some time on your side, then a growth fund might be better suited.”

Risk and reward

As a result of low interest rates (as well as the economic uncertainty of Covid-19, ongoing housing unaffordability, and a burgeoning community of online investors), many people have turned to other channels for growing their savings – mostly through the stock market. Thanks in large part to the rise of DIY investment platforms, millions of amateur investors around the world have been able to take part in a form of investing that promises to be a faster, more aggressive way of accumulating wealth. 

While the payoffs of stock market investing can be huge, so too can the losses. It’s one of the riskiest forms of investing out there and often involves a level of due diligence that not everyone is going to be willing or able to take on. The same goes for newer assets such as cryptocurrencies which, despite their growing mainstream adoption, remain volatile and unpredictable. 

“When you make a decision to purchase shares in a company, it should be a deliberate, well thought out decision because if you get it wrong, there’s a potential to lose a substantial amount of money,” says Calder. 

“One of the things that makes me nervous is when I hear people saying they bought stock based on just word of mouth and what other people are doing. They’re not actually researching why they’re purchasing stock in a company.”

With historically higher returns than savings accounts and term deposits, and generally lower amounts of risk than pure stock market investing, managed funds can be an ideal option for people looking to make their money work harder and grow faster – all without the need to read annual reports or worry about portfolio diversity. 

Calder says managed funds can be a great option for people with strong savings who may not yet have access to the property market or personal financial advice. For those with some financial security, managed funds can be a powerful way to allow their money to make money.

But that’s not to say there’s no risk in managed funds. That’s particularly the case in a growth fund, which is primarily made up of stocks, and growth investors should be prepared for their account balances to go up and down at any time. The safety net that managed funds provide is in their diversity, meaning your money is spread over many different assets. That makes it easier to manage any risk that might come up from a bad investment.

“You need to think about how you would feel if you did see your balance go down. Would that sit comfortably with you? Would you be prepared to ride out the storm and give it a chance to recover?” says Calder.

“Don’t just look at the returns and which fund has the highest. You really need to take a step back and think about your attitude to risk, what you’re saving for, when you need that money, and then work back from there to choose the fund that works for you.”

* Numbers calculated using the two-year annualised return for the period to 31 May 2021 after fees, and before tax / the average two-year term deposit rate as at May 31, 2019 with interest compounding quarterly, before tax. Kiwi Wealth is the issuer and manager of Kiwi Wealth Managed Funds and reminds investors that past returns are no guarantee of future returns. A copy of the PDS can be obtained here.

This content was created in paid partnership with Kiwi Wealth. Learn more about our partnerships here.