ANALYSIS: Learning the lessons of history to put sequence risk in its place
Discussions of sequence or series risk regularly appear in the specialist financial media, and are increasingly appearing in the general press. In simple terms, fear of sequence risk drives investors to take equity and risky asset exposures out of their retirement portfolios. More specifically, sequence risk is the fear that a series of bad returns
July 11, 2015
Surveys prove that monitoring client feedback is a highly profitable exercise
A litmus test for every financial planning business is what its clients think about it. But without explicitly asking clients what they think, there’s no good way of knowing. Terry Bell, a partner in consulting firm Business Health, says there are clear financial benefits for planning practices that check in regularly with clients and monitor
July 11, 2015
China has the tools to manage stock sell-off, says AB
While Chinese equities are undergoing a sharp correction, and the volatility could last for some time, policymakers have both the tools and the resolve to support the broader Chinese economy, global asset manager AllianceBernstein (AB) said today. “The sheer scope and speed of the sell-off has left investors around the world understandably anxious,” said Stuart
July 10, 2015
Global events no cause for investor panic
While it is a nervous time for investors at the moment, there is no need to start panicking just yet because the global events playing out are unlikely to be as significant as they currently appear, says David Bryant, chief executive officer of Australian Unity Investments. “For example, while the Chinese share market is in
July 10, 2015
Empirics adds new funds to its growing client base
Leading data specialist Empirics today announced a substantial growth in its business with the addition of four of Australia’s largest superannuation funds to its client base: AustralianSuper, Cbus, HESTA, and Hostplus. Together these four funds manage over four million industry super fund member accounts. Under the new arrangements, Empirics will provide its MarketSuite platform to
July 10, 2015
Global and domestic REIT markets generated strong returns over the 12 months to April 2015
Zenith’s analyst team were particularly buoyed not only by the Global REIT sector generating stronger absolute returns than the previous year, but pleasingly those global managers having more success in outperforming the benchmark, in what has historically proven to be a challenging sector. Those funds also which remained currency unhedged benefitted strongly from the prevailing
July 09, 2015
Another month, another Australian financial planning dealer group under fire
IOOF CEO Chris Kelaher fronted an at times hostile Senate inquiry earlier this week, and mainstream media has again gone into overdrive to report on the alleged corporate corruption. Commentators have drawn obvious comparisons between the IOOF scandal and those of other dealer groups at Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie and National Australia Bank. Suggestions that IOOF’s
July 09, 2015
New research reveals how financial planners can help to get clients’ thinking into gear
A review of financial literacy programs shows that many are not producing the results hoped for. In March this year the Beddoes Foundation – a new not-for-profit organisation affiliated with the Beddoes Institute – launched the Getting Sorted study to underpin the design of two new financial literacy initiatives. We wanted to find the missing
July 09, 2015
Topdocs, BGL partnership to provide BGL’s CAS clients with company and trust documents
Topdocs, Australia’s leading provider of SMSF, company and trust documentation, and BGL Corporate Solutions, Australia’s leading supplier of company compliance and SMSF administration software, have partnered to provide BGL’s CAS clients with access to a range of corporate documentation with automated ordering and delivery through BGL’s CAS software. BGL Managing Director Ron Lesh says “The
July 08, 2015
Zenith reports good returns with ‘lower than market’ volatility in current Australian long/short sector review
Zenith has just released its Australian Long/Short Sector Review, and over the twelve months to 31 May 2015, Zenith’s Australian Long/Short – Active Extension and Variable Beta managers delivered an average return of 10.2%, outperforming the Australian equity market (as represented by the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index) by 0.3%. This outperformance was achieved with an
July 07, 2015
IOOF head admits issues of misconduct were withheld from the regulator
IOOF’s chief executive Chris Kelaher has confirmed the company did not lodge ASIC breach reports for a number of issues, despite evidence of misconduct inside its research division. Kelaher fronted the Senate Economics References Committee in Macquarie Street, Sydney yesterday, facing stiff questioning about his knowledge of alleged misconduct within its research division. The Senate
July 07, 2015
