Exposure to Australia’s lucrative residential property market through BrickX
A new online real estate investment platform, BrickX, has been launched to disrupt Australia’s residential property market by enabling wholesale investors* to acquire an economic interest in individual properties by trading ‘Bricks’ (interests in trusts that hold individual properties) for as little as $66 per Brick. “The platform provides wholesale investors* the ability to acquire
February 26, 2015
Magellan pioneers new class of exchange traded managed funds (ETFMs)
– New fund offers investors access to Magellan’s global equities expertise in an ASX-quoted format – Creates a simple solution to help SMSF and retail investors diversify their portfolios – ETMFs set to become fastest growing segment of funds management industry Magellan Financial Group Limited (‘Magellan’), the international investment management company, announced today that it
February 25, 2015
IOOF to review models and APLs as Drennan unites research teams
One of the first tasks facing Matt Drennan, appointed last week as group head of research and portfolio construction for IOOF, is uniting two research teams that have come together following the acquisition of SFG Australia by IOOF in May last year. “It brings together two key responsibilities,” Drennan says. “One is the research team
February 25, 2015
Time to act before the benefit of the doubt is gone forever
A lot has been said about the “benefit of the doubt” recently. As the scandal engulfing National Australia Bank develops, any doubt about the need for deep, fundamental change in the financial planning industry is fast evaporating. In the wake of revelations of similar issues at Commonwealth Bank, NAB’s issues merely seem inevitable. It’s almost
February 25, 2015
Reframing the retirement conversation is the key to effective planning
Longevity is no longer an emerging issue for financial planners and their clients; it has emerged. It’s leading to new questions that are reframing conversations about retirement planning. “How long do you have left?” is fast supplementing the traditional questions around risk tolerance and age-based investment issues. How long a client can actually expect to
February 25, 2015
US President Obama joins push to ban conflicts of interest in financial advice
US President Obama has unveiled new rules for financial advisers requiring them to place their clients’ interests ahead of their own. In a measure that resembles the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) best interests duty, Obama said he was “calling on the Department of Labor to update the rules and requirements that retirement advisers put
February 24, 2015
UBS joins mFund service
UBS Securities Australia has this month joined the mFund Settlement Service. This strengthens the distribution capabilities of mFund through UBS’s extensive network of broker, adviser and investor channels. The addition of UBS takes the number of partners connected to 11 distributors, 10 issuers representing 75 funds and 22 fund managers, and 9 registrar service providers.
February 24, 2015
Key findings of the Investment Trends 2014 Platform Report
For the first time ever, the December 2014 Platform Report benchmarked the SMA capabilities of investment platforms used by Australia’s financial planners. The report covers 466 key characteristics of each platform and its service offering, providing a unique insight into the competitive standing of each provider and emerging trends across the industry. 2014 saw a
February 24, 2015
HUB24 Platform recognised in latest awards
HUB24 (ASX: HUB) has once again leapt ahead of traditional platform providers, to rank in the top three platforms in the market for overall functionality in the 2014 Investment Trends Platform Benchmarking report [note 1]. As evidence of its ability to innovate and grow at the same time, HUB24 is now in third place in the
February 23, 2015
Financial planners the ‘new priests’ for clients seeking guidance
The future of financial advice – the profession and the businesses that operate in it – will be shaped by forces far more powerful than mere legislation, according to the futurist and managing director of the Global Directions think-tank, Keith Suter. Speaking at a superannuation round table, hosted by Conexus Financial, sponsored by Perpetual and
February 23, 2015
Weaven says tax break for rich ‘worst public policy since white Australia’
Superannuation tax breaks for the rich is the ‘worst piece of public policy since white Australia’, Garry Weaven pioneer of industry funds said at Conexus Financial’s 18th annual Investment Administration Conference, held last week. Addressing more than 200 superannuation professionals, Weaven said most countries view Australia’s system as close to perfection, but despite this significant
February 23, 2015
One man’s corruption is another man’s investment return. Does it pay to be ethical?
Does it pay to be “ethical” when investing? Browse the investment bookshelves and you will end up none the wiser. That’s because for every sober-looking volume promoting ethical investing, you’ll find another more interesting-looking book extolling the virtues of vice. The reality is somewhere in between, according to three professors at the London Business School
February 23, 2015
