Stimulus working?
There was a broad-based improvement in global business sentiment in February . The developed market (DM) composite sentiment index increased from 53.5 to 54.6, which was 1.1 points higher than a year ago and 1.6 points higher than its average over the past three years. As has been the case for some time, sentiment is
March 11, 2015
Melbourne leads for December Quarter house price growth
The latest edition of the Bendigo Bank/REIA Real Estate Market Facts Report identifies some interesting trends around the Australian residential property market that should prove useful for people seeking properties across several price points. Dennis Bice, Executive Retail, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank said: “Melbourne median house prices recorded the strongest growth with 5.3% for the
March 11, 2015
A string of scandals undermines the ‘social licence’ of financial planners
While in the US recently, I picked up a copy of a prominent newspaper to read about the latest in a long line of issues associated with the Australian wealth management industry. The story was actually about the Australian wealth management industry – so the challenges we’re experiencing are news internationally. The story was about
March 11, 2015
Cases of planner misconduct point to a solution beyond banks, remuneration and ASIC
Amid the same hand-wringing and anti-bank sentiment that accompanied the CBA Financial Planning (CBAFP) scandal, the NAB Wealth case ultimately points to the same overall shortcoming in Australian financial planning. Group executive of NAB Wealth, Andrew Hagger, faced a grilling from a panel of senators led by Sam Dastyari last Friday. This was prefaced by
March 11, 2015
India’s years of playing bridesmaid to China may be nearing an end
Whatever you think about India – and it’s been in the news for good and bad of late – you can’t ignore it. Years of playing bridesmaid to China look like they are coming to an end. On current trends, the South Asian giant will soon be the world’s fastest-growing major economy and its most
March 11, 2015
Tepid growth suggests further easing in Australia
Australia’s fourth-quarter GDP figures confirm many of the themes that we have been highlighting for a while. Growth remains tepid, incomes are under pressure, and jobs growth is hard to come by. It’s this domestic backdrop that forced the central bank’s hand in February, and we believe there will be more easing in the next
March 10, 2015
Assets in ETFs/ETPs globally reached a new record high of 2.919 trillion US dollars
Assets invested in ETFs/ETPs globally reached a new record high of US$2.919 trillion at the end of February 2015, according to ETFGI¹s preliminary monthly ETF and ETP global insight report for February. March 9th marked the 25th anniversary of the listing of the first ETF in Canada. ETFs/ETPs listed globally: The global ETF/ETP industry had
March 10, 2015
February Australian ETF Review: Industry’s first $1 billion month
For the first time in its history, the Australian exchange traded fund industry increased in size by $1 billion in a single month, reaching a new record high of $16.8 billion in funds under management (FUM), according to the BetaShares Australian ETF Review – February 2015. The overall appreciation in the value of Australian and
March 10, 2015
MyPlanner unveils new model portfolio
One of Australia’s fastest growing independently-owned dealer groups, MyPlanner has launched an innovative model portfolio solution to lift practice efficiency, lower costs and curb the group’s reliance on expensive institutionally-owned wrap platforms and managed funds. The My Managed Portfolio (MMP) Managed Account Service, which is a Managed Discretionary Account (MDA) solution, was unveiled on Friday
March 09, 2015
Desire to invest overseas reaches all-time high
Australian active investors continue to clamour for overseas investments, and high net worth investors[1] are leading the charge, according to the Certitude Global Investment Intentions Index (CGIII). The CGIII, which collates the views of over 600 actively engaged investors and measures their demand for global investments, increased again this month to 186 (out of 200),
March 09, 2015
Slack regulation, poor competition are complacency risks for financial planning
One of the biggest threats facing Australian financial planning businesses is simple complacency, according to a co-founder and director of risk profiling business FinaMetrica, Paul Resnik. FinaMetrica’s business operates in 23 countries and its risk profiling software has been translated into eight languages. Resnik says the differences between financial planning businesses in the UK, the
March 09, 2015
Senate Committee rejects NAB Wealth calls to ‘trust us’
The Senate Economics References Committee’s Scrutiny of Financial Advice has rejected repeated claims from senior NAB Wealth executives that the group itself can be trusted to identify, review and compensate victims of adviser misconduct. Amid revelations NAB has paid out more than $14.5 million in compensation to around 900 clients over the past five years,
March 09, 2015
