KiwiSaver can make Economic media interesting again

Yesterday, my ears glazed over.    I was using my eyes for driving - so the glazing transferred to the ears.   The words being said on the radio became background noise - a low drone, almost like Gregorian chanting, but without the tunes.

Why?  Well, an economic commentator had a five minute segment on the radio.    He spoke at length about the share price movement of a particular stock.  When he had finished, he started talking about the share prices of other companies - one by one.  


This happens most days.   I think the financial media should consider reporting information that is relevant to the people watching.     Economic commentary in the media still sounds like Collaterlie Sisters.   

I should find the share price data interesting, but I find that I don't.    A share price moving "up 3" is not meaningful because I don't know the starting point or the context of the figure.  

The stories are interesting but when the numbers come in, I am back into a zen-like state.

I don't know many people actively trade in share markets.  So who is this information for?    And if they do trade,  I am sure they will have price data scrolling on their whatever-they-use.  Would they really rush to media outlets like TV or radio to get information?    

So let's give people economic information that's relevant to the audience.

Over 2 million people, roughly half of the NZ population are now in KiwiSaver.    That's half the country with a long-term savings account.    Is it beyond our ken to have an update of the Cash, Conservative, Balanced and Growth funds performances across all the providers?    Most of them declare a unit price every day.

That way, people can see the volatility of the Growth funds, and the relative stability of the Cash and Conservative funds.   And the in-betweenness of the Balanced funds.     Every now and then a provider can pop in to say what they're up to.

KiwiSaver information is more meaningful, more interesting and more relevant to the New Zealand public than share prices.  

Next year, KiwiSaver reporting will be more transparent and unified.   This means that more meaningful comparisons can be made between providers.    A great chance to get this information out there, every day.   So how about it, Fairfax, TVNZ, CanWest ?