Zenith rates NSW Waratah Annuity Bonds – Series 12 RECOMMENDED
NSW Waratah Annuity Bonds – Series 12 (WAB) is designed to provide a regular, annuity style income stream over a defined term via a debenture issued by the NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp) which is effectively guaranteed by the NSW Government. WAB has the characteristics of an amortising inflation linked bond or a fixed term annuity
January 22, 2015
Implementing efficiency in equity portfolios is a must for all super funds
There is growing interest among Australian super funds in the potential benefits of Centralised Portfolio Management (CPM) says Raewyn Williams, Director of Parametric’s Research & After-Tax Solutions. Ms Williams said that recent research, in particular a Towers Watson paper, shows how CPM is designed to capture value lost from tax, and implement efficiency in equity
January 22, 2015
PIMCO: What we are hearing from Asia-Pacific investors – five themes for 2015
A new Viewpoint by Eric Mogelof, Managing Director and Head of PIMCO Asia-Pacific, is now available. What We Are Hearing From Asia-Pacific Investors: Five Themes for 2015 – Amid lower forward-looking returns, investors are focusing on multi-asset solutions, enhanced beta, income and alternatives in Asia-Pacific. – PIMCO is prepared to address these themes, drawing upon
January 21, 2015
iShares leads global ETF industry flows with US$102.8bn in 2014
BlackRock has announced that its iShares business led the global industry by capturing $102.8bn in new flows in 2014, 31% of the record-breaking $330.7bn global exchange traded fund (ETF) market flows. Growth was driven by the iShares U.S. and European product lines, which continue to be adopted by investors across the globe. The iShares U.S.
January 21, 2015
Beyond beta: focus on tactical allocation and relative value
A new 2015 Asset Allocation Outlook by Mihir Worah has just been released. Key Points: – Investors already weary of a low yield environment complicated by uncertainties – geopolitical tensions, plummeting oil prices, volatile currencies, to name a few – may need to prepare for another challenging year in 2015. From an asset allocation perspective,
January 21, 2015
Thomson Reuters Cleardocs now seamlessly available for IRESS Xplan customers
Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced that Cleardocs, its online legal document generation business, will now be directly available through IRESS’ XPLAN financial planning solution for wealth management professionals. XPLAN customers will now have the ability to immediately access Cleardocs cloud-based legal documents through a new
January 21, 2015
Financial planners would love accountants’ kudos, public confidence
Accounting professional associations such as the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) could become increasingly important to financial planners as some of the traditional divisions between planning and accountancy blur. Self managed super funds (SMSFs) is one area where this overlap is becoming particularly apparent. Some of the work financial planners do on SMSFs is legally
January 21, 2015
PJC recommendations will make planning associations work out what they really stand for
If your only membership is of an association that also welcomes corporate members, then the Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) inquiry’s report into professional, ethical and education standards has an idea that you might not like very much. Tucked away in chapter three, which deals with qualifications and competence, is a little paragraph that effectively cuts
January 21, 2015
IN FOCUS: For fixed income investors, low-riding fashion is here to stay
As the US Federal Reserve closes its Quantitative Easing (QE) program, investors in fixed-income markets are being warned to expect some volatility. A natural response to expectations of volatility is to seek the proven benefits of diversification – reducing risk by investing in a broader range of securities that have a low correlation of returns.
January 20, 2015
Insync Fund managers takes note of the move in the Swiss Franc
Sydney-based fund manager Insync Fund Managers, is buying quality Swiss multinationals as they become better value. “We have added to our long held stake in Nestle and are looking favourably at Roche as its price declines. These Swiss multinationals have negligible exposure to their home currency apart from translation effects. In general our portfolio has
January 20, 2015
AdviserLogic launches Licensee Console and CRM
Financial planning software provider, AdviserLogic, has launched Licensee Console (the console) and Licensee CRM, enabling Australian Financial Services Licensees (AFSL)s to deliver direct-to-practice enhanced services, more efficiently. AdviserLogic head of product development, Daniel Gara, says the console makes life easier for both the licensee and the planner, in that information that the licensee needs to
January 20, 2015
HUB24 first to add ING DIRECT term deposits to platform
HUB24 has kicked off 2015 by adding more choice to its IDPS and Super platform with the availability of ING DIRECT’s 3-month, 6-month and 1-year platform term deposit products (TDs). Wes Gillett, Head of Marketing & Distribution, HUB24, commented: “We believe that the key to a successful platform is choice, extending across all providers and
January 19, 2015
