As the first half of “Ry-man,” as in Ryman Healthcare, one of the NZX’s star performers over many years, John Ryder’s investment advice is worth having.
Since he left the company in 2002, after it was listed in 1999, he has focused on market issues and investing in property.
He has put one of his developments, the award-winning Duncan Cotterill Plaza in Christchurch, on the market and has returned to the industry with Alpine Retirement Group, which is developing sites in Nelson and Christchurch.
His interest in the market culminated in a book, Global Investing: A Guide for New Zealanders, published in 2016. He has also taken time out to write the occasional article for NBR. The last was on the link between executive remuneration and share price performance.
He concluded that much of the rise and fall in share prices was beyond the control of company managers and that the best measure of performance was consistent earnings per share.
The secret of Ryman’s success – now valued at $6 billion – is meeting an annual target of 15% increase in underlying earnings per share.
Mr Ryder is also chairman of NZ King Salmon, another good performer valued at more than $360m since it listed in late 2016.