The other indexes are better than that, but the bottom line is that it was a struggling, rotational type of year. We were in the mature stage of a cyclical advance.

Many of the Kiwis appearing in powerful business circles around the world come from accounting backgrounds. Yet often people have preset ideas of how an accountant walks, talks, smells - although not in the business community. For me it is a career that offers a lot of variety and challenges and I love it.

The real story this past week is that we've had continued broad strength in secondary stocks. Some laggards are bouncing to not just cycle highs but all-time highs.