Industry Updates

Peters MacGregor Global Fund joins retail platform BT Wrap and Asgard

The Peters MacGregor Global Equity Fund, one of Australia’s longest running global equity funds, has been added to the BT Wrap and Asgard platforms.  The Fund provides clients with investments in up to 25 global companies that meet Peters MacGregor’s strict investment criteria of great companies with great management purchased at great prices. Wayne Peters,

INTERACTIVE: A land of opportunity – where is the best place to be a financial planner?

With an estimated population of 23.79 million – as of April 14, 2015, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Australia isn’t exactly over-serviced by financial planners. Estimates of the number of advisers vary, and are notoriously unreliable, but a generally accepted figure of about 18,000 means there’s plenty of space, and clients,

BT Compact Wrap and Wholesale Plus Funds hit the mark

BT Compact Wrap and Wholesale Plus Funds are hitting the mark with advisers and investors, providing a low-cost offer for clients with modest balances and less complex needs. More than $200 million has already been invested across the Wholesale Plus Funds which are available on BT and Asgard platforms including BT Compact Wrap. Kelly Power,

Macquarie platforms ranked top of the industry by advisers

Macquarie’s Wrap investment platforms – Macquarie Wrap Manager and Macquarie Wrap Consolidator – have been ranked first and second overall in the 2015 Wealth Insights Platform Service Level Report. The report, which surveyed 927 financial advisers nationwide, found that Macquarie Wrap Manager achieved the highest overall satisfaction score of 8.02 out of 10, while Macquarie

Findex appoints State Street Global Advisors for investment research and asset consulting

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the investment management arm of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), announced today that Findex Group, one of Australia’s largest financial services and accounting groups, has appointed SSGA to provide tactical asset allocation and advisory services for the group’s AU$15 billion funds under management following its recent acquisition of Crowe Horwath

Eureka! Barrett dips into $100m war chest to snap up his first NGA acquisition

Eureka Whittaker McNaught, part of Commonwealth Bank-owned AFS licensee Financial Wisdom, has become the first practice to join Paul Barrett’s Next Generation Advisory (NGA). The $9.6 million deal is due to be completed in the next few weeks, with NGA taking a 51 per cent stake and EWM retaining 49 per cent*. Under the first-of-its-kind venture within

Post-retirement product focus ignores investor needs

Picture a scene. A doctor is about to give you some very bad news. You have a life-threatening disease which only afflicts 5 per cent of people and will require a major operation. It’s not only a shock but the statistics are cold comfort when it’s your future that’s at risk. That’s the type of

Why chasing yield at any price won’t end well for investors in LICs

Listed investment companies (LICs) have long been a popular way for investors to access a managed portfolio in a format that is simple, familiar, transparent and often relatively cheap, compared to accessing managed funds via investment platforms. The added lure of high franking levels for retirees – in an environment where the yield trade dominates

Assets in ETFs/ETPs globally reached a new record $US2.998 trillion

Assets in ETFs/ETPs globally reached a new record 2.998 trillion US dollars but fell short of breaking through the 3 trillion milestone at the end of April according to ETFGI’s preliminary monthly ETF and ETP global insight report for April 2015. Our forecast was that assets will break through 3 trillion by the middle of

Commission or fee: just how much value is there in a name?

The life insurance advice industry is unnecessarily focused on the terminology of remuneration as either commission or fee-for-service, according to consultant and risk adviser Chris Unwin. “The problem is in the adviser’s head. It doesn’t matter whether you call it a commission or a fee; the question is do you actually represent value to the

Low interest rates can’t last, and when they rise you should be ready for the impact

There are many who argue that current low world interest rates will continue indefinitely. That goes for short rates as well as long rates. They argue that the weakness of the world economy, weak demand for funds, high savings and/or deflationary forces will keep interest rates low. I disagree. To me, that sounds more like

Grab your Walkman and get ready for a new Japanese dawn

Mid-year I’m returning to Japan for the first time since I taught English in Osaka in 1988, walking the neon streets listening to the Pet Shop Boys on a Walkman. Yes, it was a long time ago. I’m told it’s unrecognisable today. That is unsurprising because the Japan I knew then was on the crest

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