Commonwealth Essential Super launches Super Sorter
Commonwealth Essential Super (Essential Super) is pleased to announce Super Sorter, a customer centric online tool to make super consolidation easy, is live and available in NetBank. $18 billion Figures released recently from the ATO show the lost and ATO-held super floating around Australia’s financial system is creeping up to over $18 billion¹. Essential Super’s
March 06, 2014
Superannuation industry not exploiting online services
Specialist technology, operations and risk consultancy, IQ Group has released the findings of its inaugural study of the Superannuation sector’s digital engagement with members and employers. IQ Group researched the Top 50, retail, industry and public sector Superannuation Funds that represent $717 billion in Funds under Management across 21.7 million memberships. The study reveals the
March 06, 2014
Emerging markets and Europe offer opportunities to fixed-income investors
Today’s uncertain fixed-income market environment is providing opportunities for investors who are prepared to accept more risk in exchange for higher potential returns, global asset manager AllianceBernstein said today. Three areas that risk-averse investors are broadly avoiding—emerging markets, Europe and interest-rate risk—offer potentially attractive opportunities for investors who have appropriate research and portfolio management skills
March 06, 2014
Market Vectors new Australian equal-weight ETF lists on ASX
Market Vectors, the exchange traded fund (ETF) business of US-based investment manager Van Eck Global, has listed its new Australian Equal Weight ETF on the ASX today. Trading under the ASX code MVW, the new ETF is the first of its kind in Australia. MVW gives investors access to a broadly diversified portfolio of the
March 06, 2014
Why financial planners really are the doctors of the finance world
Advocates of professionalism are fond of drawing parallels between doctors and financial planners. And opponents of professionalism, or those resisting doing the hard work and restructuring that professionalisation requires, are just as fond of pointing out where the analogy falls down. But Dr Adam Tucker, with a foot firmly in both camps, says comparisons between
March 06, 2014
The evolution of advice and a focus on objectives
In corners of the financial planning community, savvy advisers are increasingly replacing advice models based on risk profiling and traditional strategic asset allocation with objectives-based advice. As the name suggests, objectives-based advice, also called outcomes-based advice, requires an in-depth understanding of an individual client’s short-, medium- and long-term needs and objectives. These objectives determine how
March 06, 2014
Unhinged share markets and the fear of missing out
Global share markets today are becoming bit unhinged in the same way that they did in the late 1990s. The evidence for this is mounting up in the form of sky-high valuations for loss-making businesses and new issues where investors clamour for stock that they believe is overvalued but which they expect to go up
March 06, 2014
Australian Ethical fund performance is booming
– International Equities Trust produced 51.9% over past 12 months – Smaller Companies Trust produced 16.9% over past 12 months – Larger Companies Trust produced 24.2% over past 12 months “We have provided consistently high returns for our clients from a sustainably-focused investment process,” said Australian Ethical CIO, David Macri. “This great performance of the Smaller Companies
March 05, 2014
BetaShares/Investment Trends ETF Report – ETF investors top 100,000
The number of investors in exchange traded funds (ETFs) has surged dramatically over the past year to over 100,000, according to the findings of the BetaShares/ Investment Trends ETF Report released today. Investor numbers have increased 50% in the 12 months to November 2013, the fastest growth seen in the last four years. The BetaShares
March 05, 2014
Smarter Money celebrates two-year milestone
Yellow Brick Road Holdings Limited (ASX Code: YBR) (“Yellow Brick Road”) has announced that it will launch YBR Funds Management’s “active cash” fund, YBR Smarter Money, into the financial planning and Asian markets after celebrating an impressive two years of operation since launching in February 2012. Smarter Money is an independently rated managed fund that
March 04, 2014
Zurich says education and advice key to Australians avoiding life ‘mis-insurance’ gap
Zurich today released new research showing many Australians have misperceptions about their life insurance, exposing them to a “mis-insurance” gap, the consequences of which may be equally as damaging as an under-insurance gap. Others are simply mis-informed about the purpose of life risk insurance and so are either uninsured or believe (often incorrectly) they have
March 04, 2014
Gwen Fletcher: an unshakeable belief in the ability of financial planning to do good
Gwen Fletcher AM passed away on February 28, aged 94. Julie Bennett, co-author with Fletcher of Fletcher’s biography, Running Between the Raindrops, remembers her friend and her immeasurable contribution to the development of financial planning in Australia My friend Gwen Fletcher was unshakeably convinced that financial planning had the power to help people reach their goals,
March 04, 2014
