Each week, BusinessDesk and the NZ Herald’s Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it’s how index investing changed the game, and what’s next. Hosted by Frances Cook.


Don’t tell me you forgot it was our anniversary? It’s a big one too: 30 years, the pearl anniversary. 

What’s it the anniversary of? Well, I’m glad you asked.

January 29 marked 30 years of the world’s longest-surviving exchange-traded fund, Standard & Poor’s Depository Receipt, mostly known by the acronym SPDR, or the 'spider'. 

It’s now one of the world’s largest funds. 

A little closer to home and March 3 this year marked 20 years since the Standard & Poor's NZX 50 was launched. 

That’s the china anniversary, for those paying attention. 

Jokes aside, index investing has been huge for letting the little guy into the market, allowing them to invest in a wide range of companies without much effort. The rewards, without as much risk. 

But some things have changed over the past few decades.

For the latest podcast, I talked to Tim Edwards, S&P’s global head of index investment strategy.

For the interview, listen to the podcast here.


If you have a question about this podcast, or a question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here, Instagram here, and Twitter here.

Listen to the full interview on the Cooking the Books podcast. You can subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.