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
Regulatory compliance continues to dampen platform development expenditure
The December 2014 Platform Report, released to Investment Trends’ clients in December, is an in-depth study of the 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.
January 19, 2015
BetaShares Australian ETF Review: Year End 2014
In a hallmark year, the Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) market saw a number of key metrics reach record levels in 2014, according to BetaShares Australian ETF Review: Year End 2014. The industry recorded its highest ever annual growth in 2014, with funds under management increasing by $5 billion (up 50% on 2013) to end
January 19, 2015
Steve Tucker’s advice firm takes first steps as Koda recruits two financial planners
Koda capital, the financial planning business headed by former MLC chief executive officer Steve Tucker and former JBWere chief executive officer Paul Heath, has appointed its first financial planners, with Sean Abbott and Peter Dunn joining the firm. Before joining Koda, Abbott established Aqua Private Wealth, in Neutral Bay on Sydney’s lower north shore, and previously
January 19, 2015
Real improvements in the quality of advice are driven from the bottom up
Real and meaningful improvements in the quality of financial planning can only be driven from the ground up, and cannot imposed from the top down. About the most helpful thing that any institution or a licensee can do is just create a structure and a culture that allows financial planners to get on with the
January 19, 2015
